


A Full Closet

by Fandoms_R_Fun



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:09:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23962891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandoms_R_Fun/pseuds/Fandoms_R_Fun
Summary: Kate spends a few days home from college with her family, but that's only where we begin.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield & Kate Marsh, Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Kate Marsh
Comments: 17
Kudos: 43





	1. Hello from The Inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We begin from the beginning of the story... or is it the middle?

I take a deep breath, feeling my heart beating faster than usual.

_Come on Max, you should be here already..._

"Kate...?" I turn around and see her standing there, her hands tucked away in her old hoodie. I walk over quickly and throw my arms around her, holding her tight. "Baby, what's wrong...?" She's whispering in my ear as she slowly rubs my back and holds me close.

"I-I'm sorry, I just..." I sniffle a bit and take a deep breath, a few tears spilling out from my eyes. "I'm s-scared..." I bury my face in her hoodie and I can feel how soft it is, her scent gently radiating off of it. Max lets me rest there and I feel safe for the moment.

After a little while, I pull back and Max wipes away some of the tears on my cheek. "What can I do?" I look at her for a moment and raise an eyebrow, causing her to give me a gently peck on the forehead. "To help you Katie, you're scared and I want to know how I can help." I nod slowly, thinking about what I've been planing to ask her...

_Well, there's only one time to ask this and it's in the present..._

"I've been meaning to ask for a while, but... can you stay at my house...?" I can feel myself shivering as I ask, Max's eyes filled with concern. "I know that we've been dating for a little while now and you've never met my family, but there's a reason why."

"You've said before that they're kinda assholes..." I chuckle and nod, making her relax a little. "You know Kate, I get that you want to spend time in town, but I can get us a hotel room if you need to get away. I mean, I haven't actually checked out of the one from last night." I sigh and look away, holding my elbow in my hand.

"No, you don't need to. Besides I think it's time you met my family. Just... don't really say anything until you know their views on it, that way we can avoid any bad impressions." I can feel Max stiffen up a little and I don't blame her. Knowing my family, if there was a credential that proved you went to church every week they'd check you for it at the door. "You know Max, I really hope you mean it when you said it wasn't a bother..."

"Kate, trust me, I'd go halfway across the world for you in a heart beat. Besides, I'm on vacation with my family all of the time, mom and dad can wait until my next few days off." She ruffles my hair and then picks me up, making me squeak in surprise. "Now my dear, how about we go somewhere with more food, I'm starving!"

"Sure, I know this place that sells amazing breakfast 24 hours a day..."

=====================================================

sigh, taking my time to adjust my clothes and making it look like I hadn't snuck out of the house a few hours ago. It's only 8 in the morning now, but since I'm home, I know that there was going to be some kind of expectation of me at least showing up downstairs this morning.

_Oh yayy... Now Auntie and mom get to badger me. Oh how fun..._

I slowly walk out into the kitchen, my cellphone tucked away under my pillow turned to silent. I walk in to my mother cooking and auntie May talking to her. "She's too old to be messing around with that artsy stuff and you know it. When is she going to wise up to God's plan for her and just find a good, christian man? And you know the youth these days, you can't even start giving them any freedoms and before you know it they're working in a brothel or they end up as a-" They notice me and auntie May remembers that she's supposed to be nice to my face, giving me a fake smile that makes me wanna puke. "Good morning, Kathrine"

_Goodness sakes woman, we get it, you hate art, just shut up about it already. I think everyone understood after rant number 543..._

"Good morning, auntie. It's good to see you again." I put on my convincing act of ignorance and manners, dreading whatever is going to come next out of her mouth.

"Well, I did have to stop by and see our pride and joy before she ran on back to college." Her tone is very self righteous, more so than usual, which worries me.

_The only time she starts talking like this is when she knows something I don't and wants to rub it in my face before she pulls the rug out from under me..._

"Well, I'll be here for a few days, so we can be around each other some more. But, for now, I'm wondering if I can invite someone over?" I look towards my mother, who turns towards me and purses her lips.

"Age, sex, and denomination." Her voice is its usual dull, cold monotone.

"20, Female, catholic." I answer her simply and quickly, making sure to add as much warmth to my voice as I can without making it sound fake.

"Hmmm, sure. She can come over for dinner tonight and if she absolutely must, I guess she could share your room with you."

"Thank you, mother." I smile and walk over to auntie May, giving her a hug. "Can I go into town and help with some of the work that father is doing at the church?"

"Why of course, Kathrine. Just make sure that you are back here by 4:30 to help us set the table." My mother moves some of the plates that she has been washing in the sink over to the drying rack, giving me a sideways glare as I walk out and head back upstairs to put on my socks and grab my phone.

=====================================================

I see Max walking over and walk over quickly, a small smirk on my face as I lean in close and speak quietly in the empty parking lot. "Hey cutie, nice to see ya. You sure you don't mind helping?"

She shrugs and smiles back at me. "Hey, I get a chance to hang out with you and I even get dinner afterwards, why wouldn't I jump at that!" She's only whispering back to me, but I still feel my heart beat faster, wondering if anyone else heard her.

"Okay, well, let's get inside and get down to business. I need your help with painting, even though I'd rather pick up a hammer and help build the sets for the play, they don't really enjoy that idea..." I trail off and slowly walk towards the church doors, feeling some dread dragging Max into this situation.

"Who doesn't?" Max can probably sense my tension and mood change because she is trying really hard to hush her voice and act natural.

"My father. My whole family isn't really a fan of my pursuing the arts, but he isn't as bad as the others. Still, 'carpentry is men's work' as he says." I roll my eyes as I say it and Max quietly scoffs under her breath.

"We both know Chloe could probably build stuff better than any 3 of them combined."

"Yeah, but don't tell them that..."

==================================================

As 4 pm rolls around, I begin to pack some things up. "Father, I've finished everything and I must get going. Maxine and I need to help mother in the kitchen to prepare for dinner."

My father nods, wiping his forehead as he finishes up another nail. "Very well. Thank you for your help Kathrine." He turns and looks at Max, nodding slowly. "Thank you as well Maxine, your assistance has been very helpful to us. This play should go off very well with these sets."

"Thank you, sir." Max bows a little and gets behind me. I lead her out of the church and we go back to her car. We hop in and drive down the road a little ways, coming up to a rest stop.

"Pull over up here." I look around to make sure that there are plenty of trees around, and there are, making it so that no one can see from the road.

As we pull in, I sigh and Max looks over at me for a moment. "Katie, why are we stopping?"

"Park in the farthest spot from the road." Max nods slowly and does so, turning off the engine when we park.

"Why are we he-" I lean over and kiss her, undoing my seat belt and moving it out of the way quickly. "Kate?" She looks at me for a moment, undoing her own seat belt but staying far enough back that I can't just kiss her again to avoid talking.

_Darn you, Maxy... You've figured out my plan..._

"Max... When we're in there, you're just going to be my friend from college who's in town visiting your parents. You're going to have to be the nice, wholesome catholic girl that I told them you were..." I can see Max nod slowly as I take her hand, kissing the back of it. "So, I want to get out all of the romantic expression before we get there. You know, hugs and cuddles and kisses. Just so that we don't get thrown out..."

There's a small silence before Max leans closer, giving me a peck on the cheek. "How about we cuddle for a little while, exchange some kisses, and then get back onto the road." I nod slowly and move back the middle arm rest, scooting over and leaning against her. "Speaking of which, how far away are we?"

"Oh, you passed it about 4 minutes ago, I just wanted to get here because I know that no one in my family goes here. They say that the people writing on the picknick tables put in an upside down cross and they refuse to step foot on the property." I feel Max chuckle at that and I sigh. "The worst thing about it is that it's literally just a cross that they were looking at from the wrong direction."

"Are you serious? That's nuts!"

I shake my head and try to relax. "Believe me, you haven't seen anything yet..."

===================================================

As the car rolls to a stop, Max turns off the engine and we sit there, a small silence filling the vehicle. I can feel dread building in my chest as I evaluate the situation.

_I'm about to bring the love of my life into the same room as my mother, and subject her to the same levels of discomfort that made me choose an art school halfway across the country from where they live..._

"Well..." I look over at Max and wait for her to say something more, seeing hesitation on her face. "Look, Katie... I know that we've had some times when we weren't on the same page, but it's never really been that bad. But, I need to make sure that I understand what I'm walking into here." She looks down into her lap and fidgets with the undone zipper on her hoodie. "How should I behave around them...?" I take a deep breath and think for a moment.

_Hmmm, I know that I've mentioned that they can be assholes, but I've never really gone into detail about how they're assholes. I don't want to scare Max into freaking out or something... but she deserves to understand what she's walking into..._

"They're bigots." Max looks up from her lap, our eyes locking filled with surprise at the harsh venom in my voice. "Everyone of them is a no good, hateful, mockery of a what a good person is." I take a shaky, long breath, feeling my face flush with anger. "You are a good person, Max. You are an amazing, loving person who gives me more happiness than any five other people I've ever known..."

Max blushes a deep red and goes back to fiddling with her zipper. "K-katie...."

"No Max, just listen, okay?" She nods slowly and I reach over, squeezing her knee. "I'm just trying to give you a warning, and this is serious." Max nods again, casually reaching over and squeezing my hand. "It's not something I can really explain right, you just kinda have to be there. But, just make sure that you're on your best behavior. We're really close friends that go to Sunday services together."

"Okay." Max squeezes my hand tighter than normal, I can feel that she is nervous. "Well miss Marsh, why don't we go on in there and help them get ready for dinner. She reaches for the door handle, but I clear my throat and she stops, not looking at me directly but glancing over her shoulder. "Yeah Kate?"

"Max Caulfield, I love you more than anyone else and no matter what happens in there, you and I are gonna leave this place and be together as long as you'll have me. Do you understand me?" I feel my face heat up and my heart begins pounding harder than it has in a long time. Max stays silent for a moment and I begin to panic.

_Oh no... I was too bold and now I've crossed the line and she's gonna feel awkward around me..._

I can hear Max gulp and her voice is low and shaky. "Kate Marsh, you're a mean person you know that?"

"I-I-I am...?" I feel like I'm going to cry and desperately try not to.

"Yes, you are. You say the most heartfelt, romantic thing I've ever had said to me, and I can't even kiss you." She smirks and I start laughing. "I'll get you back for that one."

I smack her shoulder and shake my head. "Oh hush. Now lets actually get serious and go inside. They'll be waiting for us."

=======================================================

_Well, it seems that a few years of not going to church hasn't dulled Max's church knowledge at all._

"So Maxine, what would you say your favorite passage is?" My mother sets down the final plate with food on it, the steam slowly rising up from the corned beef and almost making me want to just take some and eat it before anyone else even gets a chance to sit down.

"Mathew 11:28, Ma'am." Max answers politely, almost making me smile.

_She still remembers my favorite verse..._

"Hmm, interesting. It have been a while since I've read the book of Mathew, could you perhaps refresh my memory on what the passage is?" My mother sits down next to where my father will be when he returns from the bathroom.

"Of course. It says 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.' I go by the NIV bible, that's what they keep on campus and I read it so much that it's the version that sticks with me." Max smiles and my mother and follows everyone else's lead and begins putting some food onto her plate. "This corned beef and cabbage smells delicious, Ma'am."

My mothers smiles faintly, the one that she wears when she's keeping up appearances but is obviously feeling distaste for someone. "Why thank you, Maxine." Even her voice has more self-righteous flair than usual. I can feel my heart beat a little faster and I remind myself that it is only dinner, and then I can be excused with Max.

My father walks into the room and joins everyone in putting food on their plates, making the table arrangements like so: My father sits at the head of the table, and my mother is on his right side. Auntie May is on my fathers left and I am on the opposite side of her. Max is across from me and my younger sister Lynn sits next to her, my youngest sister Beth sitting next to me, and my younger brother at the end of the table.

_It's kinda funny. Even after all of these years, I'm still putting myself between my parents bullshit and my younger siblings. If I had a dime for every time I got disciplined for something Jack or Bethe did, I could move with Max to a small island in the Bahamas..._

"So, Maxine, how do you know Kate?" I look over to Jack and before I can say anything, Max shoots me a look that says 'I got this'. I tune out after she starts feeding them our cover story about meeting at a bible study meeting, my eyes fixed on my plate, but my mind elsewhere.

**=======================================================**

_I walk down the hallway quickly, almost running late for class._

**_Oh jeez, I'm a moron. Of course there was going to be bad traffic, why would I even think I had time for a trip to the art shop..._ **

_As I turn the corner I bump right into someone, both of us falling to the floor. I hear a loud squeak as the fall and I want to help them but I end up falling on my back and hitting my head on the tile floor._

_"Hey buddy, watch where you're going! Max, are you alright?" I see a blue haired rush over and help the girl that I ran into. I look at the girl in question and my heart beats so hard I can swear that they can hear it._

**_Oh my goodness, I've just knocked over an_ ** _**angel...** _

_I see her short, brown hair that comes down almost to her shoulders. She brushes her hair out of her way and I get to see her face. I can feel myself getting lost in her eyes, bright blue oceans that make me feel like I could stare into them forever and never see a fraction of their depth._

_The blue haired girl looks over at me, noticing me laying on the ground and staring at them. "Are... you okay?"_

_I feel dizzy and something feels off about the lights. "H-hi, I'm head, I think I hit Marsh my Kate..." The world slowly gets blurry and then everything goes dark._

_================================================_

_My eyes slowly open and I can see blurry lights around me. I hear movement and turn my head, but there's a sharp pain and I wince, sucking in air through my teeth and moving my head slower. As my eyes slowly adjust, I can see Jack standing there. "Woah, Kate, take it easy."_

_I smile and feel him squeeze my hand. "Hey Jack, what's up?"_

_"I don't know Kate, you tell me. I was a in the next county over when dad called and told me to check up on you. Said you hit your head in school and that you had a concussion. It doesn't seem like you really hurt yourself too bad, but you sure as heck scared us. It's a good thing that your friend brought you in."_

_"M-my friend?" I try to think about who would have brought me in._

_"The girl... Maxine I think it was? She brought you in and she was sitting in the waiting room when I came in. She was asking about your condition but the nurse said that you weren't having visitors yet and that was all she could say."_

**_Maxine.... maybe that was the angel I ran into. I hope she's okay..._ **

_"Okay. Uuugh, when do I get to leave, this bed sucks and I really want a cheeseburger..."_

_"Well, lemme get someone in here. They said that if you're all good, they might let you go tomorrow." Jack gets up and walks out of the room._

_**Maxine is a pretty name...** _

_============================================_

_The next morning, I sit there and sigh, feeling my heart sink._

_**I'm probably never going to see her again. I've been there for a month and haven't ran into her with all the walking around campus I do. The only reason I ran into her (literally) in the first place was because I was 15 minutes late for class...** _

_I gather the last of my things and follow the nurse out into the waiting room, walking over and signing out. After I'm done I start to walk out, trying not to groan._

**_Oh great, now I have to walk 10 miles to get back on campus..._ **

_"Hey!" I hear someone say behind me, moving closer. "Hey you, Kate was it?" I turn to see the angel standing there, breathing a little heavy and holding a messenger bag in her hand._

_"Umm, y-yeah. Are you Maxine...?" I feel my gut begin to tie itself into knots and my throat goes dry._

_"Yeah, how did you know tha-... OH that's right, you heard my friend call me by name." She nods, reaffirming to herself that this is how I know her name._

_"Well, there's that, but I actually know because my brother was here and he told me that 'my friend named Maxine' was here checking to see if I was okay."_

_She blushes and rubs the back of her neck, her cheeks turning the cutest shade of pink that I've ever seen. "Y-yeah about that... I uhh... I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. It's not usually a good sign when someone runs into you so hard that they fall over and say their 'name is head and they hit their Kate'"_

_I chuckle, nodding. "Yeah, my name is Kate, Kate Marsh." I hold out my hand and she smiles, shaking it._

_"My name is Maxine Caulfield, but you can call me Max..." Her voice slowly fades at the end, almost like she's feeling nervous about my reaction. "So, do you want a ride back to campus? I know that it's a few miles away and you probably don't wanna walk that far right now..."_

_I nod slowly, making sure that I don't go too fast and hurt my head again. "Thank you so much, I didn't want to bother you but I would really appreciate it..."_

_==============================================_

_When we reach my apartment near the dorms, I sigh, looking over at Maxine. "Maxine, I mean... Max..." She looks over at me and smiles, waiting patiently for me to continue. "Thank you so much for the ride. You helped me get to the hospital and you made sure I was okay and got a ride back. I mean... do you wanna come in and have a snack or a cup of coffee? It's the least I could do."_

_Max looks hesitant for a moment, but keeps a smile. "Are you sure I wouldn't be bothering you?"_

_"Of course not, I'm inviting you up. Besides, I need to make it up 2 flights of stairs cause the elevator is probably still broken and I'm a little worried about climbing the stair-"_

_"Okay, let's go." Max unbuckles her seat belt and gets out of the car, walking around the front and opening the door for me. I get out and she closes the door, locking her car and follows me inside._

_When we get to my apartment, I open the door and walk in, dropping my keys and my bag on the floor by the TV. I point over towards the kitchen counter as I sit down at the table. "It's a studio apartment as you can see. Not a lot to look at, but it works for me..." I loo over at the futon that's folded out, my pride flag sloppily folded up underneath it._

_I look over at Maxine to see her smiling back at me. "Are you gay too, or is it just me?"_

_I can feel my face flush deep red and my heart beat sounds like a race horse. "W... B... That.... I mean I.... You know... I'm sorta... huh?!"_

_"You're 'sorta huh'? Well, I'm personally gay. I hope you don't mind me saying it, but I saw your flag and wondered if we were both LGBT." She looks at me for a moment and stops, her confidence slowly waning. "I mean... It's not like I'm trying to hit on you. A cutie like you is obviously taken..." She looks off to the side, her cheeks getting flushed like mine. "I uh... I think I might have overstayed my welcome, haven't I...?" She rubs her elbow and turns towards the door._

_"Max wait!" I wince at the volume of my voice, my head hurting a little._

_Max turns around, a nervous look on her face. "Y-yeah?"_

_"You... Do you really think I'm pretty...?" I look down, not feeling the courage to look at the deep oceans of her eyes._

_"Very pretty." I look back up and she's frozen in place, looking at me as if asking 'what do you want me to do now?'_

**_Well, maybe I want you to compliment me some more, how about_ ** _**that**?_

 _"Max..." I get up and slowly move over towards her, stopping about a foot away from her._ _"Do you like coffee or tea?"_

_"Tea." I see her slowly relax a little, moving to lean against a nearby wall. "What kind do you have?"_

_"Pffft, what don't I have? Try me girl, I probably got it." I grin at her and she grins back. I can feel my competitive side come out and I wait to hear what flavor to grab._

_Max thinks for a moment, rubbing her chin in the cutest way and humming to herself."Mint"_

_I open the upper right cabinet, reach in, and hold up a box of mint tea bags. "Too easy."_

_"Okay" Max thinks for a moment. "Peppermint."_

_"Really?" I set down the mint and grab the peppermint that was right next to it. "Come on, Max. You gotta try harder."_

_"Chai"_

_"Right there"_

_"Lemon"_

_I open up the top middle cabinet, pointing to the first box on the right, "here"_

_"Earl Grey"_

_"There are five different brands on the left, really try me."_

_"Licorice"_

_"In the back of the other cabinet."_

_"Orange pomegranate!" I reach over to the left most cabinet and pull out a box of it, making her fake gasp. "Dear God, I've rescued a tea hoarder!" She holds her face like she's shocked and looks at all the tea._

_I laugh harder than I mean to and wince again, holding my head. Before I can finish sucking in air, I feel an arm around me and I'm being supported by a strong body. I look up to see Max holding me close. "Kate," her voice is low and smooth, like velvet. "Kate, take a deep breath and move very slowly back to the chair with me, okay?"_

_"Yes..." I can't muster up anything else. We move back to the chair and I sit down slowly with her help. "she even speaks like an angel..."_

_Max looks at me for a moment, and then grins, looking back at my pride flag. "Well now, I think I just figured out what you mean by 'sorta huh'..."_

_I blush and rub my forehead. "I assume I said that out loud...?"_

_"Mhmm... you very much did." I can hear her moving around some, but I close my eyes, taking deep, slow breaths as I try to calm my heart rate again._

_**OF course you did. Of course you said the cheesiest thing you've thought of for the past 3 days right to her face...** _

_"Well, I thank you for the compliment, but if anyone here is anything like an angel, I think it would be you over me."_

_"You think so?" I tilt my head. "And why's that?"_

_"Cause, Angels are white, I'm rainbow to the center of my bones. I'm so gay that my blood type is 'girls only'." Max smiles wide and I just roll my eyes, even though I can't help smiling myself._

_"Alright smooth talker, get me some peppermint tea and let's talk about this special blood type." I rub my shoulder and look at her for a moment, smirking to myself. "I think we both have it..."_

_ =============================================================== _

I blink a few times and look up to Max, who is looking at me with a concerned look. "Hmm? Sorry, I was just spacing out, what did you say?"

Max looks a little nervous and glances down at my plate. "It's been 10 minutes and you haven't eaten anything. Are alright?" I look over at the clock and see that she is right, it's been 10 minutes since we sat down at the table.

_Oh shoot. Walking down memory lane took longer than I thought it would..._

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something for class." I start to dig in and eat, making sure that I keep my manners, but also eating with some speed. Beth and Lynn look like they're on seconds and Jack is already going in for more.

"So Kathrine..." I look over at Auntie May and see her finishing off her final bite, patting her mouth with her napkin. "Have you found anyone... special in your life?" I feel my gut start to twist up.

_One quick glance to Max at the wrong time and they'll know that something is up. I have to try and keep perfect body language and hope she does the same..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so this is something that I've been working on the past 2 days. I was going to keep working on it as one long piece, but I think that it's getting to the point where splitting it up makes more sense. I can't promise all chapters will be this long and I don't know when I'll be able to update, but I'll see this through to the finish.
> 
> thank you to anyone who read this far and I look forward to posting the next chapter sometime in the next couple weeks. I'll be posting unrelated one-shots from time to time as well. But anyways, as always, until next time,
> 
> Read On.


	2. Keeping up appearances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate's family says some mean things and more of the past is remembered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I had to take a mental health break. Now that I'm back in the writing mood, let's get back to it!

"Well... not really, Auntie." I feel my blood chilling the veins under my skin. "If I'm going to get married to someone I need to make sure that they're the one God intends for me to be with, after all." I smile, feeling almost smug at just throwing that out there.

_Max, you'd better be keeping that face of yours blank!_

I feel my skin crawling as Auntie May looks me over and sighs. "You're going to be an old maid at this rate, Katherine! Why just look at Lynn, she's already got a boyfriend! You've never even held a boys hand have you?"

My father clears his throat and subtly taps his fork on his plate. "May..." Auntie May looks at him and sighs.

"You know Henry, at this rate I think you've raised a damn queer!" She throws her napkin against her plate and gets up, walking briskly into the next room.

My father glares at her as she leaves and then looks back at me for a moment, waiting. "Well Kathrine?" I feel like my blood is going to freeze solid and stop flowing at all.

_Well, maybe then Max will have an excuse to drag me out of here without a fist fight..._

"No, sir. I'm not... 'queer'." I use air quotes and try to roll my eyes, sounding slightly annoyed. "Just because I'm not married at 16 like she was doesn't mean there's something wrong with me..."

My mother looks like she's going to say something about my tone, but my father shoots her a meaningful look first. "Kathrine, you may not like her, but she is your elder and you must show her the due respect."

"Yes sir..." I nod slowly, looking down at my empty plate and seeing out of the corner of my eye that Max and Lynn are done as well, Jack and Beth still having some food left.

"Well, I think that I'll step out and have a word with May." My father speaks to my mother as he gets up and walks towards the door.

As soon as he's left, my mother whirls on us and leans in close to Lynn. "Why have you brought shame on this house, young lady!"

"M-mom I-" Before Lynn can finish, a hard palm connects with the side of her face.

"WHY ARE YOU A DAMN WHORE!" Our mom slams her fists down on the table and I can see the fire in her eyes. Max almost jumps out of her seat and I can see her eyes get really big, fear and worry swirling in them. "YOU STUPID SLUT!" mom grabs a plate and flings it against the wall, the glass shattering into a thousand little pieces. "I didn't raise you like this!"

"Back off, mom!" Before I know what has gotten into me, I'm on my feet. My mother stops in her tracks and turns to me, disbelief in her eyes.

"What did you just say to me, Kathrine?" She takes a few steps around the table and moves slowly closer to me "Misses Fancy art school educated heathen wants to tell a real Christian how to be a mother?!" Her face is flush and I can see her brow furrow.

I can hear the door squeak open but I don't give it any attention. "Real Christian?!" I can feel my blood boiling and I just don't care anymore.

_She can beat me until I stop breathing for all I care, I've spent 20 years putting up with her and I'm fucking done!_

"You wouldn't know how to be a decent human being if someone carved the rules into your thick skull!" I slam my own palm down on the table and I hear a chair scoot, seeing someone move out of the corner of my eye.

"WHY YOU LITTLE-!" My pulls back her fist but before I can feel the sting, things happen very quickly.

I hear my fathers voice say from behind me, "That's enough." As he says the words, I can hear some movement of chairs and an arm wraps around me, pulling me back and slightly to the side. I hear a hard _thump_ and then a hard grunt next to my ear. I feel a quick jerk down and to the side, almost like I'm falling but someone is holding me. As I look over I can see Max, holding onto me while bent over slightly and cradling her kidney. "ENOUGH!" My father's voice rises over everything and it's like I've gone deaf, not hearing a single sound for several moments that feel like an eternity.

 _You protected me,_ _again_...

================================================================================

_I sigh, walking down the path, Max walking next to me. "Oh you've got to be kidding me, Kate"_

_I shake my head and giggle. "No, it's true, I can't whistle."_

_"But whistling's easy!" Chloe pipes up from behind us._

_"Well yeah Chloe, I know that. I just... wasn't really allowed to whistle as a kid." I feel nervous that they might freak out I explained too much, so I just wait to see if they ask me anything._

_"So, you couldn't whistle because...?" Max leaves it as an open ended question, using her golden voice to subtly lull me into wanting to tell her._

**_Oh dear, I've fallen for her so_ ** _**hard...**_

_I take a deep breath and shrug. "Well, I was never taught and in a little church town like we lived in, the main focus was on praying, bible study, and talking about how to find a good man and be a Christian mother."_

_I hear Chloe laugh at that and I smile a little, knowing how much she sees how bullshit that stuff can be. "Dude, they just need to chill on that kinda stuff." I stop and turn, standing next to an old looking brick wall. I look over at Chloe and she smirks, "How would they react knowing that their shinning beacon on joy has run off to date a hardcore lesbian like Maximus here?"_

_I roll my eyes and turn to walk again, but I feel myself trip on my shoelace and fall over, stopping myself from bouncing my head off of the sidewalk. "Kate, are you good?" I hear Max's voice from right next to me and I nod._

_"Yeah, I just stop short of-" I get cut off by the squealing of tires and then a loud crash. I feel something fall on top of me followed by the sound of stone hitting the ground and the weight on top of me growing._

_After a moment, I hear the scraping of stone and Chloe's voice close by. "Shit, Shit, Shit! Max! Kate! Are you okay?! Talk to me!"_

_I panic and try to move but I'm pinned down. "Max!" I can hear the tremble in my voice, followed **by** a squeak as I feel something squeeze my shoulder._

_"R-right here..." The voice is strained, but unmistakable...._

**_Max... she jumped on top of me, she used herself as a human_ ** _**shield!**_

_"Max, are you okay?!" I still can't move, but I feel the weight getting lighter._

_"I've had....b-better days..." She groans in pain and I feel my heart sink._

**_I hope she's not hurt badly..._ **

_"Guys!" Chloe's right next to us and I can feel her lift Max off of me. I immediately push myself up and look over at her, seeing some blood on her face. "Maximus, you look like shit man." I can tell that Chloe's trying to keep calm, but her defenses are cracking at the sight of her best friend's injuries._

_I move closer and hold up her chin gently, looking her over. The side of her face is a little bloody, and her nose is bent at an angle. "I'll call an ambulance!"_

_=================================================================_

_Not like I can really kiss her now though..._

I look around an no one has talked yet. Max is slowly moving so that she's standing upright, obviously still hurting but doing her best to be ready to go back on defense. "Maxine, are you okay?" My father's voice is calm, but I can tell that he is not happy.

"Y-yes sir, I'm fine." I can hear the pain in Max's voice and I know that everyone else can as well, but my guardian angel stands tall, still holding me close to her.

"Kathrine?" I can see in his eyes that he is concerned, but he is trying to keep composed and get things under control. "Can you explain to me the events after I walked out the door?" Before I can open my mouth my mother tries to interject but my father holds up his hand, not even looking at her. "I asked Kathrine." He nods at me slowly, "Go ahead."

I nod, taking a deep breath. "W-well, Mother freaked out about Lynn having a boyfriend. She threw a plate and started screaming at her. I told her to back off and then she came after me. I assume you saw the rest." He nods slowly and I sigh. "I see that I've rocked the boat coming back home. I'll just go, I'll be in a hotel until I get back to college." I move a few steps closer to my father, feeling everyone's eyes on me. "You can come alone if you have something to say to me." I slowly turn back at Lynn and nod towards the door. You should grab your bag and come with me." Lynn nods and quickly jobs upstairs to grab her duffel bag.

"Lynn Marsh, you-!" My mother moves to go after her but I pipe up instead.

"She's 18 mom, just leave her alone already!" My mother goes to say something but I don't let her. "She's an adult, no your puppet. She can make her own decisions." As I finish, Lynn comes back, walking around the table and avoiding my mother, moving to stand next to Max. Max begins to move towards the door with Lynn, but I stand my ground, glaring at my mother and feeling my blood still boil.

I can hear someone walk over to me and then Max takes my hand, pulling on it gently. "Babe, let's just go." And just like that, my blood is ice.

=================================================================

_After a few stitches and having her nose reset, Max was sent home and I decided to watch her for any signs of a concussion. The doctor had already checked her out and said she was fine and Max had covered her head when the motorcycle crashed into the wall, but she still got banged up enough that I wasn't taking any chances._

_I brought her back to my apartment and Chloe walked over, getting settled on the couch. I had moved into a one bedroom apartment and Max had stayed over before, so she already had plenty of stuff here. As I walked into the bedroom and helped Max sit down on the bed, she sighed, looking up at me. "Are you sure you're okay Katie...?"_

_"Yes Maxy, I'm perfectly fine. You're the one that decided to play superman and jump on top of me." I sigh and shake my head. "What were you thinking?"_

_"I love you."_

_"Not now Max, don't change the subject. What were you thinking doing something like that?! You could have been killed!"_

_Max reaches up and cups my cheek with her hand, but I brushed her hand away. Before I could say something, she sighed. "like I said, I love you, you dummy." Her voice is wavering a bit and I can tell that she is about to cry. "I was protecting you..." I feel my heart crack at the way her lip trembles ever so slightly. "I-I love you..."_

_I move closer and sit next to her. "I love you too, that's why.... I'm sorry Max, I shouldn't be upset with you. You really did save me..." I squeeze her knee and she looks back up at me. She cups my cheek again and this time I don't move._

_Her eyes make contact with mine and I feel lost in them, deep, caring oceans of love and care fill my vision. "I love you baby. I'll do everything I can to protect you, always." My heart beats a little faster, making my cheeks flush._

_"I'll remember that." I lean in and kiss her, feeling all the fears melt away._

==========================================================================

I feel my stomach twist into knots as my mother's face twists and contorts at what she heard. "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL HER?!"

She stomps towards us and I can feel Max pull me towards her as my father steps in and holds my mother back. "Hey!" my mother stops and glares at him, no budging an inch. My dad glances over his shoulder and grimaces. "Kathrine, I think it's time you left..."

I feel my heart crack a little, but I nod slowly, knowing he's right. "I think it's been that time for a while now..." I turn around and charge towards the door, shoving it open and making sure that I hold Max's hand firmly as we walk out. I can see Lynn already at Max's car and she looks very worried.

As Max unlocks the doors and Lynn gets settled in, Auntie May spit on the ground near up from the edge of the porch. "Your kind will burn in hell for your heathen ways!" She is frowning at us an my mother walks through the door and stands next to her. We're about 15 feet away so they can see us, but we could still get into the car before they could walk to us. "You'd be saved if you'd listen to GOD and get a husband already!"

"Fuck you!" I grab Max's collar and pull her in, giving her a passionate, if brief, kiss. I feel her give it back and then we pull apart, going to our seats before they decided to come after us. Max gets the key into the ignition and starts the car, spinning the tires and sending up a small plume of dirt as she goes into reverse, stopping only for a second to put it into drive and shoot down the driveway.

I hear Lynn clear her throat in the back seat, making me turn around a little. "K-kate?" I can tell that she's upset, but something in her voice sounds a little off. "Where are we going?"

I sigh, looking over at Max, who's face is flush and I can almost see steam coming out of her ears. "So about that hotel room idea..."

========================================================

Max hands the money over and thanks the man at the register, taking the keys and walking over to us. "We have connected rooms. On for us," She hands me a key, "...and one for Lynn." She hands Lynn the other key and she takes it slowly, not making eye contact with either of us.

_She seems like she has something on her mind, but I don't know if I should really push her to tell us or not..._

Max and I make our way to our room and walk in. Just as I'm about to shut the door, I see Lynn standing there. "Can I talk to you two?"

"Sure, come in." I stand aside and let her walk in, closing the door and locking it before walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed next to Max. "So, What's u-?"

"I'm Gay." Lynn's voice must have been louder than she meant it to be because she winced a little and muttered "oops". She cleared her throat and sighed. "I never had a boyfriend. I have a girlfriend that I graduated with. Her and I have been planning on moving away together..." She looks back at us and silence falls again. "I guess tonight kinda shows that that was a good idea." I feel my phone vibrating and take it out, seeing that it's my mother's number. I hold it up and show Lynn. I can see the fear on her face lessen as I hit the ignore button and set my phone down on the bed, patting on the spot next to me. She sits down and starts fidgeting with her fingers. "So.. how did you two really meet?" I look over at her and raise an eyebrow. "You really don't expect me to believe that bible study story, do you?"

Max chuckles and wraps her arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. "Well, it all started when my friend Chloe was helping me get to class and then I came around a corner..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this isn't the end of the story yet. I do have a little bit more planned, but this isn't going to be several dozen chapters long. I have some more free time and if I can get into the mood I'll try and post more sometime soon. Thank you all for being patient and I hope you enjoyed at least a little of the story. Thank you all for coming by and, as always,
> 
> Until Next Time, Read On.


	3. Late Night Memory Lane

I grumble to myself, rubbing my head against the pillow gently. I can feel Max's arms around me, holding me close and making me feel safe as always. "Max?" My voice is nothing but a whisper, but I wait, hearing the clock slowly ticking away in the dark hotel room.

After a little bit, I feel her kiss my shoulder. "It's almost 3, Katie..." I nod and she sighs quietly, loosening her grip and letting me roll over to face her. "It's that obvious, huh?"

I nod, cupping her cheek and caressing her skin. "You were breathing a little harder than usual and your arms were tighter."

"Sorry." I can see little shafts of light on the ceiling, leaking out from the small gaps in the blinds on the window, the neon sign outside giving the room a slight blue tint. My face is only a few inches from hers and I can see the bags under her eyes, as she closes them for a moment.

"No, it's fine. Not like I was going to sleep that well anyways, not after tonight..." I see her lip tremble a little and I see a tear drip out from under her eyelid.

"I'm sorry..." Her lip trembles a little more and she closes her eyes tighter, a few more tears dripping out.

"It's not your fault, Max. My mother and Aunt are just like that." I wipe a few tears away with my thumb and try to think of what I should say next. "I don't-"

"I outed you Kate." Her voice wavers and my heart break in an instant, seeing my Max sound so defeated. There's also a hint of anger in her voice, undoubtedly aimed at herself.

"Max, that doesn't matter." I feel Max's chest spasm, letting me know she's trying to keep herself from crying. "They were going to find out anyway..." I use my free hand to squeeze her shoulder, still wiping a few tears away with my thumb.

"It matters to me~" Her voice waivers at the end, turning into a sob.

"I know babe, I know."

=======================================================

_Max chuckles, walking through the door and carrying the coffees that Chloe had asked her to pick up. "Hey Chlo, How's it goin?"_

_"Yo, Maximus!" Chloe walks over an hugs her, pulling back and nodding towards me, "Hey Marsh-mellow, I see you two are getting along pretty well." I nod, rubbing my arm a little._

**_I know that Max and I are together now, but Chloe doesn't know that. Does she just give everyone nicknames, or does she think of me a someone close to her already?_ **

_"Uhh Max, we should sit down for a minute..." Chloe sighs and pulls out a chair at her kitchen table for Max. "It's... about Rachel..."_

_Max nods, slowly sitting down and putting the coffees to the side. "What about Rachel?"_

_"W-well..." Chloe fidgets with her bracelet, pulling out a chair for herself, sitting down slowly. "So you remember when we were hanging out with her and you talked to her about a cute chick you thought she'd be into...?"_

_Max nods again, slower than before. "Yeeeaah, I do." I can see the wheels turning in her head while she listens to Chloe, trying to figure out where this is going._

_"Well, her brother overheard you." Chloe looks off to a different part of the room, tapping the table with her fingers. "Max, Rachel's in the hospital." At those words, Max freezes, stiff as a board and her eyes fixed on Chloe. "After we left, he went in and confronted her. He was fucking drunk off his ass and she... he beat the fucking crap out of her..." Chloe stands up and runs her fingers through her hair, sighing and pacing back and fourth between the table and the kitchen counter. "I went down and saw her earlier. She'll be fine, but it's not very pretty..." Her voice trails off and I feel like she might cry._

**_Rachel has been their friend for years, this must be hitting them pretty hard..._ **

_I look between the two of them, noticing that Max is crying, tears streaming down her face and her lips beginning to tremble ever so slightly. "It's my fault..." Her voice is low and I don't think Chloe heard her. Max slowly stands up, walking to the front door and going outside._

_"Max?" I slowly start walking after her, Chloe noticing and following behind me. We walk out into the backyard and find Max curled up, leaning against the house and silently sobbing into her knees. "Max." I look over at Chloe and see that she's holding back some tears as well._

_Chloe walks over and kneels down next to Max, putting her hand on Max's shoulder. "It's not your fault Maximu-"_

_"Yes it is!" I can hear the tears heavily in her voice, but it doesn't make it any less loud. I feel myself jump and Chloe moves back a little, holding her hands up._

_"Her brother was an asshole, Max. It's not your fault that he did what he chose to do." Chloe's voice is soft, soothing._

_"I outed her. If I hadn't, she'd be fine right now." Max speaks softly, but I can tell that it's because of the tears making her voice tight._

_"Max, all three of us have an interest in women, eventually if you didn't say something either Rach or I would have." Chloe sighs and stands up, holding out her hand. "Don't beat yourself up of it, man..." Max looks up and sees Chloe's hand, taking in and letting her friend pull her to her feet._

_"I'll try not to..."_

_===================================================================_

I slowly lean in, placing a loving kiss on Max's lips. I can taste her tears, the salty flavor bringing me back to other times I held her close and one of us cried. "You know babe, we've tasted each other's tears than more we've tasted bacon."

Max looks at me for a moment and then laughs, a few more tears dripping from her eyes before she looks into mine. "Is that so?"

I nod, slowly wiping away the last of her tears. "Mhmm, and it's a crying shame too. You're such a good cook."

Max scoffs, shaking her head. "Not as good as you, Katie. You're the best cook I've ever dated."

I roll my eyes. "Oh, like you go around dating cooks."

"Uh huh, I make sure that I vet everyone I end up with. Before they can even get to first base they need to show me how to cook it."

I playfully slap her shoulder, both of us laughing. "God, your jokes are worse than Chloe's."

"Ouch, my feelings." Max fake gasps and holds her hand over her chest. "My dear, I forever shall remember this insult towards mine dignity!" Max puts on her best posh, British accent and we both just end up laughing for a solid minute before we compose ourselves again.

I hear her sniffle and I kiss her again, feeling her run her fingers through my hair before speaking again. "I can barely believe that it's been almost a year and a half." I look into her eyes again and then pull her closer, resting my forehead on her chest. "It feels just like yesterday Chloe was telling me to watch where I was going and I saw my angel looking over at me for the first time."

I can feel Max nod as she rubs my back. "You know, you were right earlier, we haven't really been together that long." I feel her heart beating a little faster than before, making me open my eyes and look at her again. "You know, it's weird to think, if this is what life is after only a year and a half, I wonder what the next twenty years will be like."

"Only twenty?" I look her over, seeing a few marks and scars here and there. "You've put in so much effort for me, it would be a shame if I was only here for another 20 years."

Max shakes her head, leaning in and giving me a peck on the cheek. "If I knew you would only be here for another 20 seconds and then leave me forever, I'd only regret not finding you sooner in life..." I feel her take my hand and place it over her heart. "You've been worth everything that's happened. Everything I've gone through, I'd do it again, for you..."

I nod slowly, pulling my hand back after a few moments and touching her back, feeling the skin around some of the scars she has. I feel around one that the bricks left from the motorcycle crash. "You know, I know every one of your scars."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Yeah, it is so." I trace around the edges and then tap it gently. "Brick wall..." I trace my fingers slowly to her shoulder blade. "...Chloe's big fight with the jocks..." My fingers go over to her spine, "that jerk." Max nods and I move my fingers down, tracing around her kidney. "...my mom..." I finally rest my hand on her hip, making her blush at the contact. "Thank you for protecting me at dinner. I honestly was waiting for a beat down when you jumped in."

"I couldn't let her hurt you. I promised you, I'll do whatever I can to protect you, always..." Max's voice is smooth and sweet to the ears, making me smile.

"You're my shield with a golden voice."

"And don't you forget it." Max boops my nose and I giggle quietly, smiling wide. "I love you, Katie." She holds my head gently, looking into my eyes as she leans in and kisses me, closing them before running her fingers through my hair. Our legs lock together and I pull her as close to me as I can, wanting to feel the warmth of her skin against mine.

"I love you too, Maxie... I love you too." I feel my heart beating like it's going to burst from my chest, but the only thing I can do is kiss her deeper, my thoughts fading away into the night...

============================================================

It's still dark out when Max kisses me, rubbing my shoulder and then resting her forehead on mine. "I love you, baby."

"Love you too, Maxie." My heart is still pounding, but I feel it slowing down as she holds me. "You know, I'm glad that we found each other..."

Max chuckles and I can hear a smirk in her voice. "Oh really now, am I that good of a kisser?"

"Well, yeah. But seriously... emotionally I really needed someone like you in my life, and the fact that you were attracted to me was unexpected, and honestly unbelievable bonus."

"Oh? And how was it unbelievable?" Max rubs my back and sighs happily. "You're like an angel, who wouldn't want to be with you?"

I chuckle, enjoying the moment. "You'd be surprised, Max, you're not really the norm when it comes to the people in my life. You, Chloe, and Rachel are the only decent friends I've had. I have Lynn, Beth, and Alex, but I'm usually covering for them or watching over them. It's not like I got a lot of time to cry on one of their shoulders."

"Well, you can cry on my shoulder whenever you need it. You know what, I like you so much you could even use both shoulders!" I nod against her forehead slowly. "We both know I've taken your shoulder for a test cry before."

"You have, but you've always been the stronger one." I pull away from her a few inches, waiting for her to look at me. "You're always so strong Max. It makes me wonder why you like me so much, I'm not anywhere as strong as you."

"It's cause you're soft and squishy. No other woman can give me the cuddles I want." Max's face is straight and her voice is serious.

I blink a few times before feeling a little self-conscious, "R-really...?"

"Well that's not the big reason dummy." She yawns silently and then blinks a few times, hey eyelids looking a little heavy. "I love you because you're sweet. You and I are like two sides of a coin, we just fit each other so perfectly, it's like we were made for each other sometimes."

"Well, I know that I'll never forget out past."

"Oh, is that cause you have such a good memory?"

"No, because some of the big things ended up with one of us getting hurt, usually you. All I have to do it look at your scars and I'll remember." I take a deep breath, rubbing her side and smiling a little. "After all, I know your scars better than the back of my hand."

Max giggles, nodding a little. "Either that or you just like it when I take my shirt off."

I nod, Blushing a little. "Maybe so..." I feel her back for a moment, remembering something from several months ago. "Hey, so do you still remember the party incident?"

=======================================================

_Max smirks, holding my chin as she kisses me lovingly, nodding towards the cooler across the room. "I'll be back in a minute, I gotta see what Chloe's up to. When I get back, I'll grab you a lemonade." I nod, watching as she walks off into the crowd. We've been hanging around near the couch so I sit down and look around._

**_Parties aren't really my scene, but it's not like Chloe or Max are gonna let anything happen to me. Besides, I think Rachel should be near by too..._ **

_As I look for Rachel, I see the door open and some new people come to the party, a group of guys in biker jackets. They're all pretty loud, but the music drowns them out a bit so I can't really hear what they're saying._

**_Not like I really care what a bunch of strangers are saying though. My family might be snoops, but that doesn't mean I have to be._ **

_Just as I'm about to give up, I see Rachel walking towards me. She smiles at me and sits next to me. "Hey Kate, how're you doing?"_

_"Oh, good. Max said something about you being here tonight but I hadn't seen you yet."_

_"Yeah, I've been talking with the DJ, he's an old friend of mine." Rachel rolls her eyes. "Well, we didn't start out as friends, but we've known each other for a long time and we've been friends for a little while now. He's one of the people running the party."_

_"Ahh, okay. Sounds like you've been having fun then."_

_Rachel nods and looks over to me, raising an eyebrow. "You say that like you're not really enjoying the night. You don't like parties or just this one?"_

_"Well, I'm not really a party person, I really only showed up for you guys." Just as I say that I notice one of the guys that came in a minute ago walking over towards Rachel and I._

_Rachel stands up, not seeing the guy and holds out her hand. I take it and she helps me up off the couch, smiling. "You know, we could go over and raid the snack bar, I hear they have some amazing stuff over there."_ _As Rachel finishes talking, the guy taps her on the shoulder and she turns around. "Uuugh, what're you doing here?"_

_The guy smirks, making my skin crawl a little. "H-hey Rachel. I've bee-en looking for you-u"_

**_Uugh, he stinks! Is that beer on his breath?_ **

_Rachel takes my hand and goes to walk past him, but he grabs her arm. "Hey, let go of me!"_

_"No-o! Not unti lyo u talk to me!" The guy seems like he's getting angry and Rachel looks a little worried._

_I pull my hand away from Rachel and move between the two of them. "Hey, my friend told you to let her go. She doesn't want to talk to you."_

_The guy looks at me and he sneers at me. "W-well I didn't ask your opinion, BITCH!" He takes his free hand and smacks me hard, almost making me fall over. I notice that some people are watching us and whispering to each other, but no one is stepping in. I get close again as he leans in, still holding Rachel by the arm. "You stuck up little-"_

_"I said let her go!" I shove him and instead of smacking me, he goes in for a punch, hitting me right in the eye and knocking me back into someone. I go to push him back again when I hear some one from behind me saying something in a really annoyed tone and then someone rushes up to me._ _Before I can get back to Rachel's side, Max comes up and punches the guy in the side of the head. He stumbles back a little and Max grabs his wrist and pries his fingers off of Rachel's arm just as Chloe walks over from the same place Max did, quickly sizing up the situation._

_After Chloe shows up and Rachel is free, Max looks at the guy and sticks her finger in his face. "I think it's time you left." I can hear the music in the background get a little quieter, but not turn off completely._

_"Oh Fuck you Maxine, you can't tell me what to fuckin do!" He takes a swing at Max, hitting her in the jaw and making her grunt in pain._

_"Go to hell!" Chloe comes in and goes to back up Max, but the guys friends come over, making it a three on two. Max and Chloe get back to back, squaring up against them and getting ready to fight._

_One of the guy's friends throws the first punch, hitting Chloe in the cheek. She returns the favor and starts to shove him back. The other friend sees an opportunity and shoves Max forward, making her trip as she goes to hit the drunk guy. Drunk guy decides to kick her in the side while she's down, putting his boot on her back._

**_I can't fight but, I can't just stand here while they push around Max and Chloe!_ **

_I move in and shove drunk guy off of Max, reaching down and helping her up. "Look out!" I warn max just as the friend takes a swing at us from the other side and Max steps in, catching his fist right to her shoulder. Chloe kicks him in the knee and he goes down, a big thud when he hits the floor._ _Just as Max pulls her fist back to throw another punch at the drunk guy, I see Rachel walking over with someone following behind her._

**_I didn't even realize she'd walked off..._ **

_"HEY! What the hell's going on here?!" A tall, skinny guy is standing there, wearing ripped jeans and a tank top. He looks over at drunk guy and frowns. "So I see you're causing trouble again."_

_"Fuck you, Justin..." the drunk guy looks like he's about to take a swing at the person Rachel brought over, but the Justin guy pull out a stun gun and presses the button a few times, causing it to make a loud, electric sound._

_"Just get out of here Nathan, I don't have time for your shit tonight." The drunk guy looks at him and shakes his head, walking past Justin and making his way towards the door. As the drunk guy leaves, his buddies see him leaving and follow him, Justin walking them to the front door and slamming it behind them._

_"Katie, are you okay?" I hear Max's voice in my ear, her hand gently holding mine._

_I nod, turning to look at her. "Yeah I'm fine." I see Max's face slowly go from concerned to angry. "What? What's wrong?"_

_"Oh Shit, Marshmellow, you okay?" I look over to Chloe as she walks over, everyone else already gone back to whatever they were doing before the fight broke out._

_"Y-yeah, why do you ask?"_

_"Umm, you got a bit of a shiner there..." Chloe taps her cheek under her eye and I pull out my phone, opening the camera and looking at my face. Sure enough, I have a dark blue and purple spot all around my eye where the drunk guy punched me._

_As I put my phone away, Rachel steps closer and Justin moves to stand beside her. "I'm so sorry you guys, I didn't know Nathan had got in. I told him he wasn't invited after last time..." I look over at Justin and he looks annoyed._

_"What happened?" I turn back to Max and see that she's calmed down a bit, still mad but not really obvious about it._

_"W-well," I look around, seeing that Chloe, Rachel, and Justin are all listening as well. "I was sitting down talking to Rachel, and we got up to go to the snack bar when that drunk guy came in and started talking to her. Rachel tried to walk away, but he grabbed her. He wouldn't leave her alone so I tried to do something and he slapped me. Then I went to shove him and he punched me. Just as I was about to do something you came over."_

_Max nods and rubs her thumb over my knuckles, sighing. "Sorry I wasn't there sooner, baby." She kisses my forehead briefly and then turns to Rachel, nodding to her arm. "You okay, Rachel?"_

_"Yeah, Kate caught the most hell from him. After you and Chloe came over I ran and got Justin." She nods over to him and he waves._

_Chloe walks over and gives him a fist bump, flashing a wide smile and they share a hug. "Hey dude, it's been a while."_

_As Chloe and Justin start walking to another room, talking about old times, I look over at Rachel. "Do you think they have cheese over at the snack bar?"_

_"No, probably not." Rachel smirks and gives me a wink. "Buuuut, I think Justin wouldn't mind if we checked his fridge..."_

===========================================================================

Max nods slowly, sighing as she does so. "Yeah, I remember. My back hurts just talking about it."

I smile, rubbing her shoulder. "I enjoyed it."

"I mean, Justin does have a lot of different kinds of cheese. I think he might have a cheese addiction actually..."

"Well yeah the cheese was good but..."

"But what, baby?" Max moves my hair behind my ear and looks at me, the same kind of worry in her eyes as the night of that fight.

"But I really liked standing up to those guys. Both before you came over and after they'd knocked you down, I felt like I actually helped you out." I feel myself smiling a little and I sigh, "I can actually say that I, soft and squishy Kate Marsh, helped you and Chloe in a fight!"

"Yeah, you did. And we handled them pretty good, didn't we?"

"We did." I yawn, feeling my eyelids growing heavy. "We really did..." I feel Max kiss me just enough for me to feel the warmth of her lips before she pulls away and whispers in my ear.

"Nighty night, Katie. Sweet dreams, my darling." I can hear a soothing, lovely tone in her voice that makes me melt into her.

"Okay, angel." I hear her hum in amusement as I slowly drift into my dreams, her heartbeat beating like a lullaby in the background.


	4. Collateral Damage

I step out of the bathroom and sigh, taking my clothes off the bed and putting them on while Max brushes her teeth. "Hey Angel, I'm thinking that we should get something to eat and then get moving."

I hear Max spit and the bathroom door creaks open a little. "Really? Do you think your mom's gonna come after us or something?"

I hesitate and then nod a little, slowly turning around as I pull my shirt down into place and flatten out some wrinkles. "Honestly I wouldn't put it above her to be looking around town for us as we speak. I'm honestly just lucky that we're two towns over, we could even make it to lunch time if we waited for her. But, I'd rather not stick around to find out if I'm right." Max nods and get back to brushing her teeth, going a little faster than before. "You finish getting cleaned up and I'll check on Lynn."

I walk over to the door and go to open it, but I hear a few smothered sobs on the other end. I can hear through the wall the sounds of faint giggling and I can almost make out the words "...Love you, Lynnie..."

_**Is Lynn watching a video or something? Maybe it's her and her girlfriend...** _

I knock on the door gently. "Hey Lynn, are you busy?" I don't hear a response, but the sounds stop and I hear another sob, a little softer than the other ones. "I'm coming in, okay?" I slowly crack the door open and peer inside, seeing that the blinds are drawn and its almost completely dark, the only light coming from Lynn's phone on her bed. I gently close the door behind me and turn on the lamp on the bedside table.

"Leave me alone..." I can hear Lynn's voice wavering and almost breaking through the pillow as her body gently shakes.

"Something's obviously wrong Lynn, you've been crying." I try to keep my voice calm and soothing, trying not to say anything that could make the situation worse.

Lynn is quiet for a moment before she slowly rolls around, taking the pillow off her face. Her eyes are bloodshot and her hair is ruffled up pretty bad like she'd been pulling on it before. Several large tears stream down her cheeks. "She dumped me..." I raise my eyebrow and reach over, gently rubbing her shoulder. "Kasey, she dumped me... I told her that mom freaked out about me having a 'boyfriend' last night and that I'm lucky no one else knew I was gay except for you. She's been really mad at me for staying in the closet and n-now..." She stifles another sob and the tears pool up in the corner of her eyes. "N-n-now she g-gone...!" Lynn shoves her head back into the pillow and sobs more, louder than before.

Max slowly peaks her head into the room, concern on her face as she looks between us. "What's going on?" She sounds really unsure if she should get involved, but I nod over towards Lynn and sigh.

"Break up..." I can see Max wince and she nods solemnly, moving back into our room and slowly pushing the door almost shut. I can hear her moving our bags around in the other room. I look back over to Lynn, still rubbing her shoulder. I squeeze it for a moment and sigh, looking around the room for a moment. "I wanted to get a move on. I don't really want to stay around here for too long because mom knows where this hotel is and I don't wanna have to deal with her again. How about we go get some breakfast and go somewhere else?"

Lynn slowly moves the pillow away from her face, looking over it and blinking away some of the tears. "D-do I have to go back home, eventually?"

I shake my head, laying down next to her and moving the pillow to the side. "No way, you're an adult. You can come live with Max and I if you wanted and you never have to see that house again till the day you die..." I feel a few tears building up behind my eyes but I fight them back, not letting my emotions into the situation. "You're always welcome with Max and I."

Lynn thinks for a moment and then scoots over, giving me a tight hug. "Thank you, Kate."

I nod, rubbing her back. "I wouldn't want you going back there, knowing that you're gay. Besides, they might think you 'caught the queer' from your 'deviant sister'. I can see them shaking their fists from the porch just shouting 'those darn lesbians!' and they say it like the villains do in Scooby-Doo." I can feel Lynn laughing a little as I hold her close.

After a few moments, I hear a gently knocking on the door behind us and I can hear Max walking over to the bed. "Baby, everything's packed and ready to go..."

I nod and pull back, patting Lynn on the back with a smile. "Get your things ready and we'll hit the road, alright?"

Lynn smiles and nods quickly, getting up and grabbing her bag, throwing some things into it quickly and then moving over to the front door. "I'll meet you guys out there, you guys gotta do the room checks." As the door shuts behind her, Max looks over at me and raises her eyebrow a little.

"Well she has a point, but who's going to check what room?"

"I'll get hers, you get ours, and make sure that you check everything, us Marsh's tend to leave things in weird places."

=======================================

Max giggles happily as I tell Lynn about the time that Rachel challenged me to a cheese eating contest and I beat her.

"Did you win?"

"Well, yes, but also no." Lynn tilts her head to the side and I sigh, setting down my fork on my plate that's been empty for 5 minutes now. "I did win the competition, but I spent the next week chugging laxatives since cheese, yanno..."

"Eww, Max, how do you deal with her?" Lynn looks over at Max and gestures to me.

Max gets and evil grin and I can feel her tap my foot under the table, her arms crossing infront of her. "Well, It's just cause your sister is so amazing in bed-"

I kick Max so hard that I end up hurting myself, my toes throbbing as my face turns blood red.

"Uuuugh! Gross! Why are you two like this?"

Max rubs her shin and winces. "I was only joking Kate, calm down."

"Oh, so I guess that means I'm not good in bed, huh?" I make sure that our voices stay to a hushed whisper even though we're the only ones on this side of the restaurant. "So I guess that means you're insulting me now, huh?"

"Whaaa-? No Kat-, OW!" I kick her again under the table and I look around, making sure we're not getting anyone's attention. "I think this is what scientists call as 'lose-lose situation', am I right?"

"Mhmm." I look over at Lynn and chuckle. "sorry for being gross, Lynn. Anyways, did you enjoy your breakfast?"

"Yeah, the hashbrowns are pretty good here. I can't believe I've never been to this place."

I nod, looking around the restaurant. "Well, our friend's Cousin owns the place so we get a pretty good discount."

"Well," A voice says as it approaches our table, "...your friend's cousin is lookin to grab a seat for his coffee break. You mind if I pull up a chair?"

I roll my eyes and smile, looking over at him. "Yeah, sure thing Warren." As he comes closer, Warren grabs a chair and sits down, looking between us.

"Well well well, what do we have here? A hipster, an angel, and a mystery woman. My customers keep getting weirder I tell ya."

"Oh hush nerd." Max chuckles. "And the mystery woman is my 'angel's' sister, so you behave, mister." He nods and tips his hat, making Lynn roll her eyes. "Anyways, how's it going out here?"

"Oh pretty good. I never thought you guys would be back so soon. I thought you said you were off visiting family or something." Warren takes a sip from the cup of coffee that he brought and looks between us, soon wincing as he sees the looks on our faces. "It went bad, didn't it?"

"As if we even needed to tell you." I roll my eyes and sigh, leaning back into my chair a little. "My family didn't know about Max for a good reason and it didn't turn out well when I showed up with her." I try to keep things short, not really wanting to rehash all the details with anyone just yet. "But, long story short, my sister has decided to move out with us and we decided that we'd show her some of the 'local cuisine' if you will."

"Well, I'm flattered. Nice to meet you Lynn. If you're ever hungry, just stop in and I'll put it on their tab." Warren flashes me a smile before taking another sip. "So, besides the shitty parts, have you guys been having a good time?"

"Yeah, it's been about a week since the big fight and we haven't really been bothered by anyone except for the first few nights. My mom tried to call us a bunch but I just hung up every time and she got the point eventually." I look down at my plate and sigh. "We haven't really hung out with anyone with anyone, but we're working up to it. Slowly..."

I look up and Warren is nodding slowly. "Well, just remember to take your time. Shit like that is pretty disruptive, but eventually life finds a way and things stable out."

"Did you just... quote Jurassic Park?" Lynn sounds surprised but Max and I just laugh, giving each other a look.

"Sweetie, you'll learn soon how much of a helpless nerd Warren is." Max chuckles to herself and then looks over to Warren, a smug grin on her face. "Remember Johnny?"

Warren goes a little pale and takes a big sip from his coffee. "Y-yeah, I remember..." He sighs and Max's face softens.

"Did something happen?"

"Well, he came in here with his boyfriend on Tuesday, so yeah... that happened..."

"Who's Johnny?" Lynn is looking at me, her head tilted to the side a little...

===============================================

_I groan, rolling my eyes. "You know Max, I could make a totally fine dinner for us at home. Besides, I've been trained by the best."_

_"Oh? I didn't know that Kate. Were you related to a chef or something? Work in a restaurant?" Max looks eager to hear some kind of tale about my exploits as a talented chef and if makes me chuckle._

**_She's so enthusiastic about learning everything she can about me. It's pretty flattering and it makes me feel... special._ **

_I shake my head, "No, sadly that is not the case. However, my family drilled into me the 'womanly skills I must know to serve a man', it's only proper that 'a woman knows her place and her duties'." I roll my eyes and Max scoffs a little._

_"oof."_

_"Yeah, oof. But anyways, long story short, I can cook pretty well."_

_"Well I know. You are what you eat... I guess that explains why you're so sweet." She smiles at me and I blush, shaking my head._

_"Come on Caulfield, you're so cheesy that I can smell dairy just from sitting across from you like this."_

_"Oh hush you-"_

_"Why hello and welcome! You two are quite beautiful tonight!" I look over and see a guy with a thin mustache walking over to us, his skin slightly red._

_"Hello..." I look over at him and he smiles at me. Normally I would smile back, but something about him makes me feel uneasy._

_"I mean it. You two are quite attractive. Are you two waiting for your dates?" He raises his eyebrows and I can tell that he feels like our answer is going to be yes. "I've seen you two sitting here for about 10 minutes and no one has arrived..."_

_Max shakes her head, frowning ever-so-slightly. "We're here as a special night out. Alone..." Max stresses the word and makes it clear that his presence isn't really wanted, but he doesn't move._

_"Come now, Max. There's no reason to be hostile to, an old friend, is there?" He leans in a little and gives her a wink._

_I can see Max's cheeks turn a little red and it looks like she's grinding her teeth. "You know, I don't mean to be impolite, but could I ask why you're over here?" I feel nervous as he looks over to me and leans closer to my face._

_"Because my dear, I've always been fond of talking to attractive women..." I feel my stomach churn a little and I want to just get up and leave._

_"Max, how about we-"_

_"Johnny." The voice is firm, angry even, coming from behind me. "What the hell are you doing?"_

_"Oh hey honey, I'm just talking to our old friend Max here." The guy walks over to someone wearing a shirt and tie, his arms crossed infront of him. "Come on, Warren. What do you think I'd be doing?"_

_The Warren guy sighs, shaking his head and unfolding his arms. "I'm not blind Johnny, I know what you're doing and I know this isn't the first time you've done it." Warren rolls his eyes. "I just didn't know you were dumb enough to hit on someone who's clearly not into you." His voice is low to the point that I can barely hear him._

**_The only other people here are across the dinner, so they obviously can't hear_ ** _**him**..._

_"Oh come on, babe, you're just reading into things. Just relax and go talk to your customers, I think the trucker want's a coffee refill."_

_Warren takes a few steps towards him and puts his finger in Johnny's face. "No, I have another idea. You've done enough talking, how about you get the hell out of my restaurant and don't come back."_

_Johnny's face twists and contorts, turning into a hateful scowl. "You dumb fucker, you don't have any idea how worthless you are. You're nothing without me and you know it! You aren't even strong enough to serve a cup of coffee without being on medication. You're making a mistake, Warren." His voice is filled with venom and it's just barely above a whisper._

_Warren's fists are balled up, ready to strike. He raises his voice a little, "I said get out of here and I meant it. Quit harassing my customers and leave." They are staring each other down for a few moments, a couple of others looking over at us._

_After a few tense moments, I hear the kitchen door creak open and I look over, seeing a tall, bulky man wearing an apron and holding a butcher knife leaning out of it a little. "Is there any trouble out here boss?"_

_Warren doesn't budge, but instead crosses his arms. "I don't think so Frank, Johnny here was just leaving. Isn't that right, Johnny."_

_Johnny looks over at the chef, and then back to Warren, fear quickly crossing his face before it's replaced by disbelief. He lowers his voice, but not as low as when they were first speaking. "I'll get my things and go away."_

_"No, I'll mail you your stuff, just go. Go away and don't let me see your face again, here or anywhere else." Warren points towards the door and then turns away from Johnny, pulling out his notepad and facing us. "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, Johnny."_

_"Oh screw you!" Johnny gives one last look over to the chef and then walks out, making his way to the door and shoving it out of his way._

_As the door shuts, I look back over to Warren and see him staring at his notebook, a few tears dripping down his cheeks. "S-so... What can I get you two this evening?"_

_\---------------------------------------_

_After we order, I look over at Max and raise an eyebrow. "Do you know those two guys?"_

_Max nods slowly, shaking her head. "I know all of them. The guy that was hitting on us was Johnny, the guy he was fighting with is my friend Warren, and the guy from the kitchen is named Frank."_

_"Is this normal, or...?"_

_"For Johnny, yeah. He cheats on Warren all the time. Well, cheated... and you can see that Warren wasn't exactly happy about it. He usually isn't that strong willed. That's honestly the most assertive I've ever seen him with someone. He's usually a bit of a push over about things, especially when Johnny is involved."_

_"Ahh, I see." I look over towards the main counter, seeing Warren sending our order to the Kitchen and having a hushed conversation with the chef._

_I feel hands holding mine and look over to Max. "You know, I didn't expect our 2 month date to go like this. I hope you can still enjoy the night..."_

_I giggle and shake my head. "Max, you know that I love spending time with you. I enjoy any night that we get to be together." I give her a wink and a smile, actually making her blush for once._

\------------------------------------------------

_The door closes behind the only other person that was left besides Max and I, and Warren flips the sign over to say closed before walking over and taking a deep breath. "So, how's it going? You two enjoying yourselves?" His voice is a little shaky and I can tell that he is trying to be strong._

**_I know what that's like all too well..._ **

_I stand up and without thinking open my arms a little. "You uhh... look like you could use a hug..."_

_Warren nods and sniffles, giving me a hug that I happily return. I rub his back for a second and then pull back a bit, patting his shoulder. As he pulls away, he wipes a few tears away and sighs, looking between Max and I. "I'm sorry you guys had to see that." He looks over at me and sighs. "I assume Max has already told you but my name's Warren. I promise you that things aren't usually as... 'lively' as tonight has been." He hold out his hand and I shake it, taking a seat in the booth again._

_"Sit down, Warren."_

_"Oh no, I couldn't intrude..."_

_"Please, I insist." Max's voice is soft and soothing._

_Warren nods and Max gets out, sitting next to me and letting Warren take her seat. "I uhh... I know that I've kinda let him push me around and have his way, but I couldn't let you guys get caught up in that."_

_"Why'd you let him push you around in the first place, though?" I can tell that Max is asking out of curiosity and genuine care, but I can see Warren doesn't really wanna answer._

_"Because sometimes the ones you love don't give you a choice. It's just easier to hurt with them than hurt more without them..." I speak before even thinking about it and I can tell that Max is looking at me, but I focus on Warren for a moment. "My name's Kate by the way."  
_

_"Yeah, I figured. Max has been talking about you every time she comes in here..." Warren chuckles and looks to the side as a door creaks open._

_There are footsteps coming from behind me and soon, the chef appears, standing next to Warren and patting his shoulder. "You did the right thing, kid. No matter how it hurts now, you'll be feeling better about it eventually. Call me if you need to talk, okay?"_

_Warren nods, "Yeah Frank, I'll do that." He smiles for a moment, looking back at Max and I before looking back to Frank. "You wanna pull up a seat for a cup of coffee before you go?"_

_Frank thinks about it for a moment, shrugging. "I don't think I'll drink any coffee, but I got some time to sit."_

_==================================_

_I learned more about Frank and Warren that night than I'd learned about anyone at any one given time. It doesn't feel like it was that long ago..._

"I'll explain later, Lynn." I turn over to Warren and take a deep breath. "Did he say anything?"

"Well, he was starting to tell me about how him and his boyfriend were going to get married, but I told him to get out or I'd call Frank and the police."

"Why Frank and the police?" Max asks, trying to lighten the mood. "If you call one, the other isn't really going to be that useful."

Warren chuckles at that and nods. "I guess you're right, but I figured that if he wasn't afraid of one he'd be scared of the other."

"I'd hate to meet anyone either dumb or crazy enough to not have a healthy fear of Frank."

"Oh come on Kate, I'm not that scary."

I jump in my seat, turning around to see Frank standing there and holding a pack of cigarettes. "Yes you are!" I slap him gently on the arm. "You scared me there."

"Oh, sorry about that." He pats my shoulder and I take a sip of my drink. "Hey Boss, I'm headin out for my smoke break, I'll be back in five."

"Okay Frank, see you in a few." Warren nods and holds out his fist, which Frank bumps and while he makes his way to the front door towards the parking lot.

After Frank leaves, Max and Warren start talking about some nerdy stuff and Lynn chimes in from time to time, but I'm lost in my thoughts as they talk between themselves.

_If Johnny is hanging around, that's not going to be fun for Warren. I'll have to make sure to stop by and see how he's doing sometime when we get settled back in..._

I look over at Max and she catches my eye, smiling as me as I smile at her. After a few moments, she goes back to talking with the other two and I move my gaze towards the window behind them, seeing the stars high up in the sky.

_We haven't really stayed in once place since the thing with mom and auntie May, but they both know where I go to college. Would they come out here? Well, the real question is which one will come out here to harass us... Who knows, maybe we'll get unlucky and they'll both show up._

I think back to the conversation Max and I had a few days ago, about how we could pay for my classes ourselves.

_It's not really something I'd want her to have to deal with, considering that she's already had to do so much for me and sacrifice for us to be where we are. I won't let her jeopardize her own education, but I don't really see how we could make it work on our own..._


	5. Ring Ring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this came a little later than I intended it to. I spent about 5 or 6 days binge-reading the fic "Life Has No Meaning Without You" by spebonne. Between that and wanting to not mess this fic up, I took longer than I would have liked to get it out. I hope you enjoy it!

I sigh, sitting down and eating my ice cream cone. "You okay Katie?"

I look over at Max and nod, smiling. "I'm having a great time, Angel. I just..." I look out over the park, taking a deep breath. "I don't know... I've been feeling on edge for a little while. Things just don't feel normal."

"Is it just the family thing, or something else too?" Max rubs my shoulder, taking a bite out of her ice cream cone and waiting patiently for me to speak.

After a few moments, I shrug a little and close my eyes. "The family thing has been stressing me out a lot, but honestly I really miss us having our usual schedule. Besides, you know I love you with every fiber of my being but we each need our own personal time. These last few weeks we've been around each other constantly. I think we've needed it, but it's reached a point where I think we should spend at least a few hours here and there just doing our own things, you know?"

I open my eyes and look over at Max, seeing her smile and nod. She kisses my forehead and leans in, whispering into me ear. "Your ice cream is starting to melt, dear..."

I chuckle and look at my ice cream, seeing it start to drip from the cone a little. "Darn, you're right." I focus on eating my ice cream and Max clears her throat.

"You do have a point though. I haven't spent any time with Chloe recently and I know that you've been dying to talk with Rachel for the past few days." Max sighs and pauses for a moment. "Besides, break is going to be over in a few days and we'll have to get back to classes so we won't really have time to just go around and have fun whenever we want."

"Yeah, that's true." I finish off my ice cream cone with a final bite and chew it while I think. "You know, it's pretty good that we live together. I think I'd go nuts having to set up an appointment to spend time with you."

"Same honestly. I did it when we first started dating, but just barely. Besides, it's not like I really spent a lot of time on my own anyways..."

=========================================

_I sigh, staring into her eyes and smiling. "Max, do you really have to go?"_

_"Well Katie, I need to sleep eventually..." I blush as she calls me that, pouting a little as she puts her notebooks into her bags._

_"W-well... you could always stay here for the night..."_

_Max looks over at me and freezes, her cheeks turning a little red. "K-kate... I don't think I can-"_

_"I'm not asking you to sleep with me!" I blurt out quickly, watching as Max relaxes slightly. "I uhh... I'm not ready for that either..." I rub my shoulder and look at the ceiling for a moment. "I just, don't want you to leave yet."_

_I can hear Max sigh and she walks over, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Kate, I don't want to leave either, but I have to leave really soon if I want to make it back for curfew. I don't want to be out half the night anyways, I have things that I have to do tomorrow and I know your test is tomorrow afternoon. I can't afford to be up half the night..."_

_I nod slowly, looking over at her and sitting up, leaning in and cupping her cheeks. I look into her eye and lean in, kissing her passionately. She leans into the kiss herself, just as much passion in her lips. When we part, I move to the side and whisper in her ear. "I love you Maxy, you stay safe and let me know how everything goes, okay?" I pull back and she nods, smiling at me._

_"I love you too, Katie." She gets up and walks over to the door, grabbing her back on the way out. "I'll see if I can stop by in a few days, okay?"_

_I bite my lip and nod slowly, trying to stay positive. "Okay."_

**_It's probably going to be a week before I can see her again for more than just a quick cup of coffee..._ **

_I see her thinking for a moment, the gears in her head turning as she hold the door knob. "W-well, talk to you later, good night."_

_"Good night." Max nods and smiles, slowly closing the door behind her as she leaves. "...don't be a stranger..."_

_\-----------------------------------_

_Chloe walks around the corner, small bags starting to form under her eyes from the last time I saw her. "Oh, hey Kate!" Her voice is cheery and I can tell that she really is happy to see me._

_"Hey Chloe..." I can't find the same cheery attitude and I sound almost depressed._

_"Jesus Kate, are you okay...?" She looks me over, probably seeing how frazzled I look. "You look a little rough."_

_I nod, running my fingers through my wild hair and looking down at my wrinkled clothes. "Can we talk?"_

_She nods, taking my hand and leading me towards the door. "You don't even need to ask, Kate. You're my friend." We go outside and she leads me over to a pickup truck in the parking lot. It's not as old and funky as her other truck, but it's the only one that she feels comfortable driving for long distances._

**_I never understood why she even kept the old one until Max told me she rebuilt almost the entire thing from the ground up._ **

_I sit in the passenger seat, feeling the old, worn leather as Chloe gets into the driver's side. "Okay Marsh-mellow, tell me what's eating you." Her voice is soft and comforting, like when she's talking to Max._

_I take a deep breath, looking her in the eye for a moment before I speak. "Does Max like living in the dorms?"_

_Chloe thinks for a minute, no sign of judgement on her face or in her eyes. "Well, not really. She lives there because she knows that she is better off there than on the street, but she's not really there a whole lot. She's either at your place, hanging out with me, or doing her course work. I think she only goes into the building just to sleep."_

_I nod, holding my hands in my lap and fidgeting with them. "So, if she had a chance to move out, do you think that she would like that?"_

_I feel Chloe's hand on my shoulder and I look back, seeing her nodding. "Yeah, I think she would under one condition."_

_"What's that?"_

_"You were there too."_ _I blink a few times, trying to say something but not really finding any words. "You know Kate, she really loves you. You are closer to her than almost anyone else ever has been and I'd go as far as to say that she might even activley want to move in with you."_

_I nod slowly, taking in this information. "Okay. So, do you think I should ask her to move in with me?"_

_"Honestly, that's something that you'll have to decide on if you want it. She hasn't talked with me about it and I can't speak for her, she's her own woman." Chloe squeezes my shoulder and smirks a little. "But if you ask me, off the record, I'd say she's more likely to say 'yes' than 'no'."_

_I feel myself grinning as I nod happily. "Thank you, Chloe."_

_"Don't mention it, now if there's anything else you wanna talk about I still have a few more minutes before I have to do anything."_

_I lean in and hug her tight, rocking back and fourth for a second. "You've helped me with my problem, but thank you. And umm..." I pull back, looking at her face and watching closely. "Do you really consider me a friend?"_

_She chuckles, nodding. "Hell yeah Marsh-mellow, I wouldn't let you date my best friend if you were an asshole, and since you're a really good person I would be a fool to not try to be friendly. You're just so good at being nice that I actually like you." She smiles but then frowns for a second. "No homo, of course. You're Max's girl, I'd never interfere with that."_

_"But, Chloe, since you're gay, wouldn't it be all the homo?" I smirk as I open the door, stepping out and looking back at her._

_She shakes her head and pulls out a cigarette. "You know what I meant, smart ass."_

_"Hey! Only I can talk about her ass!"_

_I jump and look over, seeing Max walking over to us. "Hey Kate, how's it going?"_

_I look around, confirming that no one else is around. "G-good..."_

_She walks closer and hugs me, holding me close and whispering into my ear. "Don't worry, Katie. I'd never out you like that."_

_I nod into her shoulder, holding her tight and taking a deep breath. "I'm gonna hold you to that..."_

_================================_

I stretch my arms before yawning a little and walking into Rachel's kitchen. "Thanks for hanging out with me, Rachel. I know you probably have better things to do today-"

"Oh hush! I won't hear any such non-sense. I always have time for you, Kate." She sits down at the table and picks up a coffee cup that was sitting there, half full. "Do you want anything to eat or drink?"

"Oh no thank you, I already ate with Max earlier."

"Ahh, okay." Rachel takes a few sips of her coffee and looks over at the door leading out to her balcony. "You know, I never thought that I'd be doing this."

"Drinking coffee? You know Rachel, quite a few people have been known to do that."

I grin as she shakes her hand and chuckles. "Oh ha ha. No, I mean this. Sitting here and talk to a friend about stuff. I always figured that I'd be off making the world my bitch and doing some modeling or acting. I never thought I'd just be... going to college."

"Yeah, I can see that." Rachel raises her eyebrow at me and I hold up my hands. "I'm just saying that you're a free spirit. You seem like the kind of person to go out and take life by the horns." Rachel nods, taking another sip of her coffee. "So uhh... I assume you've heard about my shitty visit home."

Rachel shakes her head, getting up to pour another cup of coffee for herself. "No, I don't think I have. What happened?"

I take a deep breath, looking around. "Well, it kinda started with me sneaking out of the house to talk with Max..."

\------------------------------------------

After about 20 minutes, Rachel was all caught up on the events of the past couple weeks.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry Kate. No offense, but your mom and aunt hella suck." Rachel slowly thinks for a moment, biting her lip and swirling around her coffee. "They haven't been trying to call you after the first few days?"

"Well, not really. I've been in touch with Jack and he said that he was fine. He's living on his own so he really doesn't deal with mom a lot. Even Beth, who's still living there, she gets away with more being the youngest. She's just spending more time with friends until she hits her next birthday and then she's moving out."

Rachel nods slowly, something clearly on her mind. She doesn't speak for a few minutes and even when she does, it's just a whisper. "What about your parents?"

"Well, My mother did try to call me a lot, but I just ignore her. My father, that's another story." I sigh, looking over to the flowers growing in the window. "He hasn't tried to call me once yet."

Rachel sips the last of her coffee. "Have you thought of calling first?" She gets up, walking over to the counter to put her cup away. "I mean, he seems to not be really upset with you that much."

I nod a little, pulling out my phone and checking the time. "Yeah, I have. I honestly almost did a few times in the last week, but I just haven't been able to make myself do it. Every time I do I can see his face and hear his voice when he said 'I think it's time you left'..."

Rachel nods, thinking for a moment. "I have to use the bathroom, I'll be back in a little bit."

"Okay." I nod and sigh as she walks out, looking through the messages on my phone. I see a new text from Max.

_**My Angel: Hey cutie, I'm going to be stopping by the store tonight to pick up some food that Lynn wanted. Do you want anything? <3**_

_**  
**_

I smile, tapping my finger on the screen to respond. However, as I start typing, I feel the phone vibrating in my hand. As my finger comes down on the screen to hit a letter, I realize that I've just hit the button to accept the phone call that just came in.

_Oh shoot!_

I look at the contact and take a deep breath, holding the phone to my ear. Before I can say anything, I hear the person on the other end. "Kate...?" The voice is sad, almost broken. I can feel my heart begin to crack and I close my eyes before I respond.

"Father...?" There is a few beats of silence, neither of us really knowing what to say.

"Kate, I'm in town."

"So, you're down at the store?"

"No, I'm in town, near your campus." I feel my heart stop for a few beats, my palms getting sweaty.

"You can't take me away, I'm not going home! I love Max and I'm not letting any of you ruin what I have with her!!" I feel my skin begin to warm up, both from anger and embarrassment, as I realize that my voice has steadily gotten louder as I spoke.

"Kathrine, calm yourself." I can hear him sighing as he pauses to find his words. "I mean no harm to your relationship and I don't wish to try and meddle in your life. You're an independent woman, all grown up and responsible for her own decisions."

"Why are you here then?" I feel myself growing almost bitter towards him, a small part of me wishing that he had never called.

_I just want to move past what happened. I'm not going back and I'm not leaving Max, I have nothing to say to any of them..._

"You said if I wanted to talk, then I should come alone. Well, I'm here. Now can we talk... please?" His voice is missing it's normal tone of authority.

_He's not telling me what to do, he just wants to be on even ground._

"What part of town are you in?"

"I'm down at the church." He chuckles for a moment, the sounds of footsteps in the background. "I guess a pastor just feels at home in one of these things."

I nod to myself, knowing what he means. "Okay, is it the catholic church near the bar, or is it the one across the street from the Chinese restaurant?"

"Umm, I'm looking across the street and I see... a book shop and a coffee shop. They're called 'second hand books' and 'Bob's brews'. There's a little neon sign in the window of a coffee bean."

"Oh, okay. Well, turn...left. Walk down to the end of the block and turn right. From there, go down about a mile and there's a small dinner, I'll meet you in the parking lot there."

There's silence on the other end of the line for a moment, the sounds of a few car horns muffled in the background accompanied by someone talking and my father thanking them. "Okay, I'll be at that parking lot shortly. And Kate..?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." Before I can respond I hear the click of him hanging up and I pull the phone away. I set it down on the table and see Max's text again. I type up a response and send it to her.

_**Me: I'm going to be out late, don't wait up for me. As for food, grab us a bag of potatoes and 1 gallon of milk.** _

_**  
**_

As I put the phone down, I look over and see Rachel, leaning against the doorway. "You need a ride?"

I take a deep breath, nodding as I get up and push in my chair. "That'd be pretty helpful yeah..." I make my way over to the door and bite my lip. "I'm a little worried."

"Why's that?" Rachel grabs her keys and slips on her jacket, shutting the door behind me as we walk outside.

"Well, If you didn't already know that was my dad on the phone, and... he called me Kate..."

Rachel chuckles and nods. "Well, okay? That is your name, is it not?"

"Yeah, but it still worries me."

"Why's that?" Rachel pauses when we reach her car, unlocking the door for me.

"Because he hasn't called me anything but Kathrine since I was 9..." I open the passenger door, getting in and staring straight ahead as I close it.

_What are you up to...?_

=================================

_I groan loudly, shoving my textbook off of my desk and putting my head into my hands. "This is so useless..."_

_I hear the couch squeak and gentle footsteps behind me. A pair of arms wrap around me and Max rests her head on my shoulder. "Do you need some help, baby?"_

_I swallow, talking a deep breath, squeezing me eyes shut. "It's late Max..."_

_She nods, looking over to the right where my clock is. "Yeah... you're right. But, I guess I could stay a little more if you needed some help. I mean, I could get in through the back door at the dorms and not get into too much trouble."_

_I stand up slowly, letting her take a few steps back while I stretch so I don't hit her on accident. She waits patiently as I slowly turn to face her. "It's fine Maxy, I just need to call it a night for studying." I turn off the brighter lamp on my desk and instead turn on the gentle lamp I keep on as a nightlight. I can hear Max packing her backpack and I look down, closing my eyes and thinking for a moment._

_**Come on Marsh, what's the worst that could happen? You say something and she get's really uncomfortable and she leaves and never talks to you again and you break up before anyone besides Chloe and Rachel even know you were in a relationship... okay, don't think about the worst case, just do it!** _

_"Max, can you wait a minute...?" I hear the rustling of her bag stop._

_"Yeah, what's up?" I turn around and see her face looking back at me, her eyes wider than normal as she looks at me, waiting for me to say something. I just stare for a moment, feeling her deep, soothing orbs beginning to draw me closer._

**_Well, here it goes._ **

_"Max," I walk over to her slowly, reaching over and holding her head gently in my hands, looking deep into her eyes. "I'm going to go brush my teeth."_

_"O-okay...?" Max sounds a little puzzled, but she stares back into my eyes._

_"If you're gonna head out, you should do it now. But, if I come back and you're still here..." I kiss her feeling her melt into me a little as I do so. When I pull back, I stay close and move to whisper in her ear. "...please be here to stay..." Max goes to say something but I press my finger to her lips. "You don't need to do anything we haven't already done before, and you don't have to move in. Just, hold me and be there when I wake up..." I walk away before she can say anything. I close the bathroom door and walk over to the sink, looking in the mirror. My cheeks are a deep red and I feel my stomach tying itself into knots as I pick up my toothbrush._

**_Oh great, you've done it now! You just had to want her to stay and so you just pushed her into a corner. She's going to leave and you're not gonna hear from her for weeks and maybe she won't feel comfortable even coming back here to visit let alone stay the night. What were you thinking?!_ **

_I finish brushing my teeth and wash my hands, making sure that there's nothing in my teeth. I take out my hair ties and put them in the drawer, walking over and opening the bathroom door, shutting off the light. As I walk over to the bed, I see Max laying under the covers, her pants hanging over the back of my desk chair. I look over at her and I feel my heart beat faster._

_"So, you gonna come to bed or what?" Max smiles over at me, holding out her arms. "I want my cuddles."_

_I nod happily, walking over and crawling into bed. I wrap my arms around her, burying my head in her shoulder. "So do I, Maxy. So do I..."_

_\--------------------------------_

_I groan when my alarm goes off, rolling over and hitting the snooze button. But, before I can do anything else, I feel something holding me tight and preventing me from moving away._

**_Uuugh, how do I get wrapped up in this damn blanket so tight?_ **

_I grunt to myself, squirming a little but not getting free._

**_This blanket is really tight. And for some reason, it...smells...like..._ **

_"M-max...?" I slowly let my eyes flutter open, seeing my brown haired angel holding me close._

_**She's still here! She didn't leave and she's still here!!!** _

_I feel my heart beating almost out of my chest and I smile like an idiot, feeling the corners of my mouth begin to sting a little after a few minutes. I just stay there, my arms wrapped loosely around a still sleeping Max, her arms holding onto me and not letting me move._

**_Not like I'd ever want to anyways. She looks so peaceful, I wouldn't want to miss a second of that beautiful face..._**

_After a little while, I can feel Max begin to stir, her breath becoming a little deeper and her head nuzzling into the pillow. She moves like she's about to roll over, but her arm underneath me stops her. She tries again and grunts to herself, falling back into place. She slowly opens her eyes and we're looking at each other._

_She blinks a few times, and I just smile, still holding onto her gently. "K-katie..." Max looks around a little bit, seeing that she's in my room. The gears slowly turn in her head and I can see her beginning to remember why she's here. She grins, looking into my eyes before kissing me. "Good morning, my love..." Her voice is just a whisper, but it feels like those four words fill my whole world._

_I kiss her back and when we pull away, I give her another quick peck on the lips. "Good morning to you too." We lay there for a few minutes, not speaking a word. She gently pulls me closer and I nuzzle into her neck._

_I jolt as my alarm goes off and I reach behind me, smacking the snooze button again and looking at Max, she smiles and kisses my forehead as I rest my free hand on her side. "I don't have anything until this afternoon. What about you?"_

_I shrug. "I don't have anything going on today until 2. So, I have several hours of nothing to do."_

_"Well, in that case, I think we should sleep in, just for another hour."_

_I nod, relaxing in her embrace. We both look at each other, exchanging caresses and kisses, neither of us even considering getting anymore sleep._

\-----------------------------------------

===============================

I take a deep breath, standing outside of Warren's Diner.

_I kind wish I hadn't been as hostile to my father when he called in the beginning. He seems like he's really taken my accidental coming out pretty well._

I check my phone again, waiting for something when I hear the diner door open. I ignore it and check when my father called me for the 7th time in the last five minutes.

_If he's walking he still needs a few minutes to get here..._

I hear footsteps coming towards me and I look up, seeing my father walking at me, a blank expression on his face. When he reaches me, we just look at each other, our hands in our pockets as we stand in silence for a minute.

I'm still thinking on what to say when he finally talks first. "Does she make you happy?"

"W-what?"

"Maxine, does she make you happy?" His voice is soft and caring, genuinely interested in my answer.

"Yeah, she does. Very much so, actually..." I rub my elbow, looking up at the sky for a moment. "I want to stay with her for as long as she'll have me."

He nods, scratching his chin. "I assume she treats you well. Like, she doesn't hurt you or anything, does she?"

"Of course not! Why would you assume that she would~?!"

"Hey." I hear a rough, deeper voice coming from near by. I look over to see Frank, standing there with a cigarette in his hand. "This guy giving you any trouble?"

I sigh and shake my head. "No, we're all good Frank, just talking."

He nods, leaning against the stair railing at the entrance. "I'll be here, just holler if you need me."

I turn back to my father and bite my tongue for a moment, shaking my head. "Max would never hurt me, dad..." I look him in the eye, watching him for a moment. He chuckles and shakes his head as well. :"What?"

"Nothing, it's just that you haven't called me dad since you were 13..." He looks off to the woods, his eyes focused on nothing in particular. "These last 7 years have been a bit different..."

I run my fingers through my hair, taking a deep breath. "Look, if you're here to yell at me for being gay or tell me that I'm going to rot in hell, you ought as well save your breath and go home. I'm staying with Max and if mom or May have an issue with that they can stick it where the sun doesn't shine."

"Kathrine Marsh, you might not like your mother but you can at least-"

"No! You don't get to do that!" I point my finger at him and take a step closer. "You don't get to make me feel bad about hating the woman who wishes I never existed! You and I both know that if she could she'd just send me off to a conversion camp and let me be miserable and hate what little shitty life I could make until I just said 'fuck it' and offed myself!"

Dad looks down, closing his eyes and hesitating for a moment, before nodding. "You're probably right..."

"Yeah, I know. And I don't want someone like that in my life, dad. If someone is going to be there and I'm going to put my heart and efforts into being connected to them, I can't have them making me feel like... like an abomination..." I choke back a few tears, not wanting to break down right now.

_It's kind of hard to give a strong argument when tears a dripping from my eyes like a leaky faucet._

I feel someone hold me and I stiffen up, slowly realizing that it's my father who's holding me. "Kate... I don't care that you're gay."

I reach up and hug him back, holding him in a tight embrace. "Y-you don't h-hate me...?" The tears slowly start flowing as he shakes his head.

"No, no! I could never hate you!" I can feel him rubbing my back like he used to do when I cried when I was younger. "I know that I'm not the most expressive person in the world when it comes to my feelings, but you're my daughter, my flesh and blood. And that means something to me." He pulls back a little and looks at me, wiping away a few tears from my cheeks. "I love you"

"I love you too, dad." I hear the bell on the diner door ring again, glancing over to see Frank going back inside.

_He probably sees that I'm safe and need some privacy._

"I know that you start classes again soon here, and I wanted you to know that you're not getting cut off. Your college will still be paid for and you are always welcome back at the house." He cringes for a moment and sighs, shaking his head. "You might not want to come home any time in the near future though, your mother is practically breathing fire."

I nod, pulling back from the hug and rubbing the back of my neck. "You really don't care that I'm gay...?"

"No. Of course I really wish I had grand kids, but you have 3 siblings that could still do that if you don't. Plus, it's your life and I have no place telling you how to live it where your love life is concerned."

I look down, bringing up what I've been trying to avoid for a while now. "Don't you consider homosexuality a sin?"

I look back, studying his face. His shoulders shrug and he is quite relaxed. "In all honestly, I don't give a damn who you're with. I never have and I never will. It doesn't matter if it's a guy or a gal, as long as it's another consenting adult and no one is getting hurt." He squeezes my shoulder and gives a lopsided smile. "I just want my girl to be happy."

I nod, smiling wider than I had in a while. "Max and I are only out to a few select people that we're close to, but even if we hadn't told them they'd see that we love each other." I can hear my stomach growl and I chuckle, nodding over to the diner. "I haven't eaten in a while, do you wanna grab something to eat while we're here?"

"Sure, I'm quite famished myself." We walk to the front entrance each of us smiling and feeling good about how things stand.

\-----------------------------------------

As Warren sets down our drinks, he smiles. "Well Kate, it's been a hot minute. How're you doing?"

"I'm doing pretty good." Warren looks over at my father and looks back at me, raising his eyebrow. "This is my dad, dad this is Max's friend Warren."

"Hey now, last time I checked we were friends too."

I nod, taking a sip from my ice tea. "Yeah, but she introduced us."

"Yeah, you have a point." Warren adjusts the collar of his turtleneck, looking out the window as some bikers roll up into the parking lot. "Oh great, more noisy bikers. Like we don't have enough of them here..." He shakes his head and walks off towards the front counter, waiting for them to come in.

"He seems like a nice guy." I look back at my dad and nod, taking another sip of my drink. "You know, I haven't really had time to look around lately, do you know of any good hotels around here that I could stay over the night? Preferably a cheap one that doesn't have too many gross things in it..." He takes a sip of his coffee.

"Dad! Come on, you're family! Come stay with Max and I. You can talk to Lynn too, she's been having a little bit of a hard time with something lately..."

"Yeah, break ups are hard around her age..."

_Woah woah woah, hold on a minute._

"Wait, how did you know about her breaking up with her boyfriend?" I raise my eyebrow and lean in.

Dad exhales deeply and leans in a little, keeping his voice down. "Well, you see... Kasey came to see me the other day." I can feel my pupils dilate, my heart beating a little faster.

"S-she did?" I try to think of something, swallowing a little louder than I meant to. "What did she tell you?"

My father's voice drops to a whisper and I can see an annoyed look in his eyes. "She outed Lynn. I acted surprised and talked as if I was going to yell at Lynn, but I was just trying to play along. She was obviously trying to aggravate the situation, so I played dumb." He rolls his eyes and frowns. "I not only don't care that you and Lynn are gay, but it irks me that Kasey tried to use it against the person she supposedly loved..." I shake my head, feeling my blood warm up a few degrees.

_So help me, if I ever meet this Kasey, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind..._

"HEY! Let's have a table for 7!" I look over to see a biker, taking off his helmet and talking a little too loud. Warren nods sheepishly, leading them to a table away from most of the other customers, giving a few apologetic glances to some of the customers that are seated near the bikers.

I groan, pulling out my phone. I pull up my text conversation with Max and send her a new message.

_**Me: Hey Angel, I'm going to be coming back home sooner than expected. What's for dinner tonight?** _

_**My Angel: Oh, I'm still at the store. I'm buying some steaks and I was going to make some homemade mashed potatoes too.** _

_**Me: Set an extra plate when you get home, we're going to be having a guest tonight.** _

I look over at dad and smile. "You know, this lunch is going to be pretty nice, but you're _really_ going to enjoy Max's cooking. She's the best."

He smiles back and chuckles to himself. "I can't wait." I hum to myself for a moment, seeing Frank walk over to give us our plates from the kitchen.

_I'm really glad that I get to spend some time with dad, but I don't know how Max and Lynn are going to react to him being here... Maybe I can wait for Max's cooking after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm glad that you all are still reading and I do hope to get the next chapter posted sometime soon. My life is going to be getting a little more busy soon (it's already kind of started to), and I'll be doing my best to put something out regularly, but I might get distracted and I would rather wait and put out a better chapter than rush out something that I end up hating later.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your patience and I hope that you come back next time. And, until then, As Always, Read On.


	6. Chloe, Loser of Sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, I hope you like this chapter, enjoy!

_Huh, I never imagined that Rachel and My father would get along so well._

We sit in Rachel's Kitchen, her and my dad swapping some of the different stories that involved me and/or Max.

_Only the ones that she wouldn't mind us sharing though, the really personal or questionable stories are for another time..._

"So, we were sitting there, cups of coffee in our hands when all of a sudden Frank calls out from the kitchen, 'has anyone seen a ring in their food!?' and I look down and sitting right there, floating in my coffee, is the wedding ring."

"Oh my! Was it Franks?" My dad slowly stirs a sugar cube into his fresh cup of coffee.

"No, it wasn't _his_ wedding ring, it was a wedding ring that he was holding onto for someone else and it fell out of his pocket into the coffee pot. I just happened to be the first person that got a refill after it happened." Rachel chuckles and shakes her head. "I ask for a refill on my coffee every time I'm there ever since. Maybe one day I'll find a gold coin in there."

I roll my eyes, chuckling at her story. "Hey Rachel, I know it's off topic, but have you heard anything from Chlo-"

Before I can finish my sentence, there is a loud knocking at the door. Rachel gets up and walks over, setting down her coffee on the counter as there's more banging on the door. "I'm coming I'm coming, keep your pants on!"

As the door opens, Chloe walks in, dark bags under her eyes, and sits down next to me. She looks over at me and smiles weakly, reaching up and ruffling my hair. "Hey Marsh-mellow, how's it going?"

I smile back at her, chuckling at the nickname that's grown on me ever since she first used it. "I'm fine. Chloe, this is my dad. Dad, this is-"

"The notorious Chloe." He holds out his hand shaking Chloe's and giving her a nod. "It's nice to meet you."

Chloe smirks and looks at Rachel. "Well, I see my reputation proceeds me."

"Mhmm, that it does. Now, since we have the introductions out of the way, what's going on? You look like you haven't slept in a week."

Chloe sighs, setting her elbows on the table and setting her head in her hands. "You know what they say, 'there ain't no rest for the wicked'."

"Well maybe the old revered here could give you some help." We look over at Rachel and she shrugs, taking a sip from her coffee. "Hey, if she can't sleep cause she's wicked, who better to help than a man of the cloth?"

My father rolls his eyes, shaking his head. "Nah, I don't really do that kind of religious stuff. I do some volunteer work and I read from a book that I've read about 20 times." He moves his head back and fourth a little, as if thinking over something in his head. "But if you wanted to vent, I've been told I'm a good listener..."

Chloe nods, rubbing her eyes with her hands, sighing and looking to me. "Cherry blossoms?"

"Raspberry Bushes"

\--------------------------------------

_"We should have some code words!" Chloe claps her hands, jumping in place. "We could talk like spies in the movies!"_

_Max giggles, shaking her head. "Come on Chlo, it's not like we're going to become spies anytime soon."_

_Chloe turns around, walking backwards on the sidewalk slowly. "I know, but what if we're talking around assholes that we don't want to understand us."_

_I hum to myself, scratching the itch on my shoulder. "You know, she has a point, dear."_

_Max looks over at me and reads my face, nodding after a moment. "Okay, what do you propose?"_

_"Well I don't think I should be the one proposing to you, Maximus." Chloe winks at me and wiggles her eyebrows making me blush. Max moves forward and smacks her shoulder, making Chloe raise her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. Jokes aside though, what do we all like?"_

_"Art." Max throws out, biting her lip. "I love photography and I know that you two are into drawing. Different kinds of drawing, but still."_

_"Yeah, but what else?"_

_"Plants." Chloe looks over at me, a mysterious look in her eye. "We all like plants. I know that I don't have any at the moment, but my sisters always told me that I had a green thumb."_

_"That's it!" Chloe stops, pulling me into a hug. "Marsh-mellow, you're a genius!"_

_\-----------------------------_

Chloe looks over at my father, and then at Rachel. "I've been having a hard time at work lately."

"Oh? What's been going on?" Rachel moves closer, handing Chloe a cup with some coffee in it.

"Well, I've been spending more time around my co-workers, trying to get to know them. And well... there's this on person who I just really can't get a good read on." Chloe picks up her coffee and takes a sip, wincing at the taste. "God Rache, you've got to invest in some coffee creamer, this shit tastes like death." Chloe takes a few big sips and sticks her tongue out before setting it down. "Anyways, I just... I've been talking to her a lot lately and she's someone that can be a pain in the ass. She can be a little boss and she is just so damn bull headed." Chloe shakes her head, looking down at the table, pulling at her hair. "She just makes me wanna slap her in the damn face half the time!"

"You've dealt with assholes before, Chloe. What makes this girl any different?"

"She's _not_ an asshole!" Rachel raises and eyebrow crossing her arms. "I never said that she was..."

"You never answered the question; what makes her different from anyone else? You're not just venting about work in general or you would have said that work got you down. You went right to her, why would you-"

"I have a thing for her." Chloe speaks over Rachel, sounding a little flustered as her cheeks slowly turn a light pink. "I've been talking to her constantly. We have so much in common and I just.... I can't resist talking to her!" Chloe puts her head down on the table and groans. "I've been working overtime to try and get some more money saved up before classes start up again, but I just... I can't resist talking to her whenever I have the time..."

We sit for a few moments, looking around at each other while Chloe just sits there, her head down and her leg bouncing up and down quickly.

_Must be the coffee._

I reach over, squeezing Chloe's shoulder. "Tell us about her."

Chloe sits up a little, a sad look in her eyes. "She's beautiful." She looks off at the far wall, not focusing on anything in particular. "She has short, blonde hair. Like, pixie cut hair. She's a few inches taller than you and Max, but she stands her ground well. I watched her stand up to someone in the office and I could swear that there was fire in her eyes..." her voice trails off a little, the corners of her lips twitching up into the ghost of a smile. "She's just so... fun, to be around that is. She can be a pain in the ass, sure. But if you're nice to her she's usually nice back. She has days where she's pretty snappy but those are few and far between these days. Well," Chloe bites her lip, her cheeks turning a darker pink. "She's not that snappy towards me anymore. She used to snap a lot, but a little before we started talking she started to lighten up. Now... now she almost never snaps at me."

My father nods slowly, taking a final sip of his coffee before setting down the empty mug. "Do you think that she might like you back?"

"I mean there's hope..." Chloe groans and leans her head back, looking at the ceiling. "Then again, I've never had really good luck with women."

\----------------------------

_Max yawns, leaning into me more. We're sitting on the couch, watching a movie that I've wanted to see for a while now. As the credits roll I can feel her fingers on my arm, slowly caressing my skin as she relaxes against me. "I love you."_

_"I love you too, Max." I reach over, holding her cheek in my hand, looking into her eyes. "So much..." I lean in and give her a soft, loving kiss, feeling her melt into it. She rests her hands on my shoulders and I move to wrap my arm around her when I hear something._

_I pull back and Max looks at me, pouting. "Katie, wha-?" She stops having heard the same noise I did: a small, timid knocking. She frowns and gets up, brushing the wrinkles our of her sweater as she gets up._ _I walk over to the door and look out the peephole, seeing blue hair on the other side._

**_Huh, I wonder what she wants at this hour..._ **

_I slowly unlock and open the door, holding it open for a moment. "Hey Chloe, what's going on?" She slowly turns towards me and I can see her eyes are a deep red, a few tears streaming down her face. She winces like she's just been slapped and moves in, giving me a tight, almost crushing hug._

_I hear quick footsteps behind me and before I know it, Max's arms wrap around the two of us, just as tight as Chloe. "Come and sit down."_

_Chloe nods into my shoulder and begins moving towards the futon. I help her over and Max closes the door, following close behind. "I hope I didn't interrupt..."_

_"Shhh, nonsense. You interrupted nothing, don't even worry about that." Max's voice is soft, almost like velvet. I sit down and Chloe sits next to me, Max sitting on the other side of Chloe. She rubs Chloe's back and pulls her blue haired friend into a one armed hug, resting her head on Chloe's shoulder. "talk whenever you're ready, Chlo."_

_Chloe nods, sniffling a little. "I uhh... I kind of got rejected." She takes a deep breath, leaning her head against Max's and reaching over, squeezing my hand. "I mean, I got publicly laughed at by the girl I told I had feelings and she slammed a door in my face, so it's just really a normal Tuesday..." Chloe tries to laugh at her half hearted joke, her voice landing somewhere between hurt and morbidly amused._

_I squeeze her hand tight before standing up and putting on the tea kettle, getting 3 cups and some tea bags. "I'm sorry Chloe, I know that you really liked her."_

_"Yeah, but what's new, am I right?" She sounds bitter, but I know that she's just feeling raw from the rejection._

**_Honestly if I had told Max that I liked her and she'd slammed a door in my face I'd be in tears for day..._ **

_I lean against the counter, watching Max comfort her childhood friend like she has for years, being the rock for her closest, most dear companion._

**_They have something really special. I almost feel like they'd be a thing one day if I wasn't in the_ ** _**picture**._

_Before I can really follow that like of thought any further, I hear the kettle begin to whistle quietly, pulling the kettle off the heat and pouring the water. "This should help you feel better. I know it always makes me feel good when I'm feeling down."_

_\---------------------------------_

I nod slowly, looking over at dad. "She's right. She's got a murphy's law thing going on when it comes to dating."

Chloe groans and shakes her head. "Well that's not entirely true, I've never dated a serial killer yet." She sighs, chuckling and picking at the dead skin on her thumb. "That would require actually getting a date though..."

"Oh cheer up! You're going to be fine, Chloe!" I look over at Rachel, seeing her setting an empty coffee cup in the sink. "You just have to take things slow. If you like her and you think that she might feel the same, ask her out. I mean, how long have you known her?"

"Known her or talked to her?"

"Both."

"Well," Chloe pauses, thinking for a moment, chewing on her lip as she does so. "I've been working there for about 3 years, and I was there for about 6 months before I met her, so I've known her casually for a while. We started talking to each other and being friendly about a month and a half, two months ago?" Chloe says it like a question, but then nods to herself after a moment.

"Then ask her out. Say that you think she's cute and you're getting vibes that she might feel the same. It might be awkward if she says no, but you two will get over it soon enough." Rachel walks over to Chloe, giving her a quick hug before patting her shoulder. "I gotta use the ladies room, I'll be back."

Chloe looks down at the table and keep nibbling at her lip. We sit in silence for a moment, none of us really having anything to say.

While we sit there, I begin to hear a buzzing, pulling out my phone but seeing that it's not going off. Chloe pulls out her phone and stares at it for a moment before answering. "Hey V."

"Hey Chloe, what're you up to?" I can hear a slightly muffled yet mildly seductive voice talking through the speaker in her phone.

"O-oh, nothin..." Chloe takes a deep breath. "You're gay, right?"

There's a pause before a sigh on the other end. "Chloe, I'm sitting in my room staring at posters of bikini models, yeah I'm fucking gay." I can hear a little bite in her voice, but it sounds more like frustration than actual anger.

"Y-yeah, okay. Well, I uhh. I was sort of wondering if, yanno..."

"Chloe." The voice is softer and caring. "You can tell me what's on your mind, you know that."

"Are you busy?"

"No, I'm just sitting around, why?"

Chloe looks over at me and I nod, giving her an encouraging smile. She takes a dep breath and crosses her fingers. "Do you wanna go out with me?"

"Like on a date or for a cheeseburger?"

"Why not both? We could even do them at the SAME TIME!" Chloe's voice is back to it's bouncy, childish self.

I can hear a bright giggling through the phone, followed by a sigh of happiness. "I'd love to go on a date with you for cheeseburgers. Where are you?"

"I'm downtown near 36th street. You know the 7/11 down here?"

"Yeah, I know the place. How about you meet me there in 20 minutes?"

Chloe looks like she's about to explode, her eyes wide as she nods excitedly. "Hell Yeah! Bet I'll beat you there!" She hangs up and looks over at me wrapping me in a bear hug and ruffling my hair. "I'll be coming over to hang with you and Max tomorrow, see you then!" She stands up and holds out her hand to my father who shakes it with a smile. "It was good to meet you, sir."

"Good to meet you too, Chloe."

Chloe walks to the door and turns around, looking at me. "I see where you get your talent for listening from, Kate." She smiles for a moment before turning around and walking out the door. I can hear her rushing down the steps outside and I chuckle, looking over at my father.

"Well, that's Chloe. She's usually even more excited than that, but she must be really tired."

"Not for long." Dad shrugs and scratches the back of his head. "So, do you know what Max is making tonight?"

I look at my watch, seeing the time. "Yeah, but I think that you'll enjoy it soon enough." As I stand up, I can see Rachel walking into the room. "Hey, Chloe's going on a date with her co-worker and I'm going with dad over to eat dinner with Max."

Rachel groans and throws her hands up. "Damn! Why do I always miss the cool shit because of my bladder?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So I had the first few paragraphs already written when I put out the previous chapter, but I had a different name for this chapter and I didn't know where to go with it and I got really involved with updating "This is A Storm I Created". I promise that I'll see this story through, but it's going to be an update every week or two. Sorry for the wait, but I have a little time coming up and so I'll try to put out the next chapter real soon. Thanks for being patient :)


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